Dream Guardian
by juanivan7
Summary: Rosalina has the power to enter dreams with the help of her Dreamstone. One night, Rosalina's curiosity gets the best of her and she set out to mansion to defend the sleeping Smashers from their personal nightmares. (Possibly Discontinued)
1. CH1: The Dream Guardian

A lonely young girl sobbed in an empty void of darkness, she desperately wanted to see her mother again, even if she knew she could not. She was lost child, lost in the darkness in which she dreads. The darkness where there was no light to guide her, no stars to accompany her, no mother to find her or care for her.

The girl kept crying in her void of despair until she heard another voice cry, the voice was of a much higher pitch and sounded like it suffered the same fate. The girl turned to where the cry came from and saw a tiny glimpse of light in the far distance of the void of isolation. No, she was no longer isolated, and she swore she was going to accompany whoever cried in the distance, because nobody deserves to be lost and alone, not like how she was.

She then braved forward towards the light, she walked and she walked and didn't seem like she was getting any closer, what started as a walk that went on for days became weeks, and then those weeks became months and eventually years. She did not tire walking endlessly towards what felt like the edge of the universe, but she never stopped, she would not stop until she has reached that crying voice.

Years went on and the glimmer of hope that glowed in the distance grew larger and closer, but the it's cry of sadness never stopped. The girl kept walking as she became wiser, pondering about everything in the universe in the meantime of her journey.

"Mother..." The voice whimpered. The girl only wished she could get there faster, but there was only a couple of light years she had to cross.

"Mother!" The voice cried. She could do nothing but continue her journey, the voice felt so close to her, yet so far.

"Mother wake up!" It exclaimed even louder.

Wait, she's a mother? But she was just a young girl, and why did the voice tell her to wake up?

Then it hit her, she is dreaming and her child outside wanted to speak to her, she gave up on her journey and rejoined with the outside world.

She also remember about how often she would get that dream, always that same dream of her lost in the darkness which she dreads. She always walked towards the glimmer of light but she can never make it there.

At times she would think that it is a memory, but she keeps telling herself that it's just a dream. But why did it keep hauntin-

"MOTHER!"

* * *

-Rosalina's Room

Rosalina opened her eyes and was greeted by a little star-like creature who was one of her many adopted children known as Luma.

"Luma, what did I tell you about waking up mommy in the middle of the night?" Rosalina asked slightly irritated but still gently.

"Sorry mother, I had a bad dream and I can't go back to sleep..." Luma asked sadly.

"I understand, so what shall we do?"

"I want to hear a story." Luma squeaked.

"What story shall it be?" Rosalina asked.

"I like the one about the Dream Guardian." Luma spoke.

"Very well, The Dream Guardian it is." Rosalina hovered to the leather chair next to the fire place and Luma sat comfortably in her lap.

"Where is the book?" Luma asked, normally Rosalina would get a story book from the bookshelf.

"I know this story by heart, it is my favorite story too." Rosalina prepared herself to retell the story.

Once upon a time in the reaches of space was a powerful star known as the Dreamstar, it was large star that had the many colors of the rainbow and it had the power to grant wishes to enter the dreams of others.

The Dreamstar floated peacefully in space until the evil cosmic wizard known as the Nightmare invaded and destroyed the star into many fragments that scattered across space. Without the Dreamstar, the Nightmare was free to terrorize the dreams of everyone in the universe. Just when all hope was lost, a fragment of the Dreamstar made it's way into a planet safely, where it was discovered by a young woman in a field.

Upon touching it, the woman felt a surge of power run though her body as she established a link with the Dreamstar. The Dreamstar granted her the power to enter dreams so she could defeat the Nightmare. Under one condition, she must never use her power with selfish means or she will be paralyzed for betraying the Dreamstar.

The woman was too pure hearted to even think of such thing, she made her way into the dream world and destroyed the Nightmare. The Dreamstar's spirit was pleased with her work that he renamed her the Dream Guardian. The Dream Guardian would travel through dreams across the universe in search for the remnants of the evil Nightmare which may occasionally enter our dreams. But fear not, the scattered remains of the Dreamstar are still somewhere in the universe, waiting for many other Dream Guardians to rise and put an end to the Nightmare once and for all.

"Mother, how did the Dream Guardian look like?" Luma asked innocently.

"How she looked was a mystery, but many say that she takes the form of people that are dear to the dreamer." Rosalina answered.

"Does that mean the guardian would look like you if she visited my dreams?"

"You think so?"

"Why wouldn't she? You're pretty, you're kind and loving , and you're strong too!" Rosalina was flattered by Luma's praise.

"Perhaps, are you ready for sleep now?"

"Yes mother, I am not afraid of having a bad dream because I know that the Dream Guardian will show up in the form of you and kick Nightmare in the-"

"Luma, where did you hear that kind of talk?!" Rosalina scolded.

"Captain Falcon." Luma said ashamed.

"Do you know what happens to Captain Falcon when he talks to Samus?" Rosalina quizzed.

"She hits him because he shouldn't talk to lady like that?" Luma answered.

"That's right." Rosalina said.

"I'm sorry Mother, it won't happen again." Luma apologized.

"I know it won't, because you are a good Luma." Rosalina kissed her child and set it down on it's bed and went to sleep.

Rosalina sat back on the chair and thought back on the Dream Guardian story. She looked into her pocket and took out a small stone that glowed in every color.

She was indeed a real Dream Guardian. As a cosmic traveler, she found a fragment of the star of legend. According to one of Mario's recent quests, he also ran into a very powerful fragment known as the Dreamstone, which matched the description of her own fragment.

With the fragment, she was able to sense the presence of nightmares in sleeping individuals. She has only incepted the dreams of her own Lumas before, but the Smash Mansion was such a crowded place. Rosalina was actually curious to what her fellow Smashers dream about, and hopefully even help them out when they have nightmares.

'No, it is not place to invade someone's privacy like that!' She mentally scolded herself. That only made the idea even more tempting, incepting other Smashers could take her to new worlds, new experiences, and new feelings.

Rosalina cursed her natural flaws as curiosity got the best of her. She quietly opened and closed the door to her room and set out to explore what dreams lie in the darkened night of the Smash Mansion.


	2. CH2: Bubble Trouble!

Rosalina has set out to wander the dark, isolated hallways of the Smash Mansion. The only source of light that made the place barely visible was the orange glow from the post lights outside the mansion, which shined into the hallways from the windows. The hallways that were deeper within the mansion did not have windows and were completely pitch black. Although she travels in space, at least there were stars always there to guide and accompany her in the vast cosmos. The space guardian found the starless night sky of the Smash World and dark corridors unsettling.

'I cannot allow fear to discourage me... a guardian must brave through the darkness', Rosalina thought to herself. She looked towards her wand and waved it in a circular motion, the star-shaped tip started to give a gentle glow. The light it gave off was bright enough to illuminate the path, and dim enough to not be blinding or disruptive. Rosalina gathered her courage and hovered into the mansion's deep corridors.

As she scouted the hallway, she suddenly cringed at a stinging sensation sourcing from the door next to her. She was usually used to sensing a slight itch from simple nightmares of fear coming from her Lumas, but someone more mature was capable of more complex feelings and can even be painful for those inexperienced with dream magic.

This stinging sensation wasn't just a simple fear, it was panic. The dreamer's mind was overflowing with fearful thoughts of losing something... no, someone. A simple mistake has grown into a great disaster and the dreamer is helpless to redeem itself or fixing the situation.

Rosalina quietly unlocked and opened the door to the room, as she ventured into the dark, she immediately recognized the smasher who was having such nightmare.

Yoshi.

The green dinosaur was in deep sleep in a large dog bed, but he had a troubled expression on his face. His eyelids were squeezing tightly and he had a rare frown pasted on his usually joyful face. What sort of nightmare could possibly bring a sense of helplessness to such a cheery character?

Rosalina walked to the corner wall of his room and laid down on the floor in a sleeping position. The soft carpet gently stroke the side of her face while her silver crown inevitably slid off her head. She slowly closed her eyes while holding her wand similar to how a body would hold a bouquet of flowers in a funeral.

'Hear me Dreamstar, for I wish to enter the dream of the dinosaur known as Yoshi', Rosalina spoke in her mind. She then felt a surge of energy run through her body before going unconscious.

* * *

-Yoshi's Dream

Rosalina was surrounded by the darkness which she dreads. Before she could even think of crumbling under her nyctophobia, her pitch black surroundings began to slowly fade away as it was replaced by a landscape of green, fluffy grass that covered the ground and blue hills towering over the land. Rosalina could easily recognize that Yoshi's dream took place in the world Mario and his friends resided in.

She floated around to search for Yoshi, but only saw more of the same landscape which was inhabited by Shy Guys and a grumpy Chain Chomp.

"WAAAHH!" The guardian flinched when a crying infant encased in a bubble flew right past in front of her.

Rosalina focused hard to see the captive child, it was a boy with a recognizable red cap and a big, round nose. The infant was none other than Mario himself.

Questions began to generate in her head. Why would Yoshi dream of Mario as an infant? Was it perhaps a distorted memory turned into a nightmare? Is Yoshi perhaps older than what others presume him to be? Yoshis could easily have a long lifespan, but this one normally has child-like, energetic, enthusiasm fueled by his appetite that rivaled Kirby and Pacman.

"Hang on kiddo, I'm coming!" The very green dinosaur Rosalina was looking for cried as he dashed right past her as he chased the bubble containing Mario.

"Waah! Waah! Waah!" Mario wailed as the bubble kept hovering away from Yoshi's reach. Yoshi jumped into the air to touch the bubble, but the bubble quickly jerked a few inches away, barely avoiding his touch by less than an inch. The bubble was clearly taunting the dinosaur as it kept floating away from him.

Yoshi followed the bubble further in the field, where he released his long tongue to get that extra reach. Only for the bubble to swiftly dodge away from it. Yoshi grumbled and stomped in frustration, he has never felt so helpless to doing something about things.

Yoshi redirected his tongue to swallow a group of unfortunate Shy Guys, expelling them through his excretory system as eggs.

"Take this, stupid bubble!" Yoshi began throwing his arsenal of eggs towards Mario's captor, his efforts were only wasted as the bubble kept dodging each of his projectiles perfectly.

As the chase continued, Yoshi was suddenly ambushed by a Shy Guy that jumped out of a bush and tackled him down to the ground, while a Piranha Plant popped out from the ground and bit down on his leg.

"Agh! Get out of my way!" Yoshi howled in pain and frustration, the bubble slowly moved closer to the immobilized dinosaur, if bubbles had mouths it would be blurting out the most cruel insults to tease him right now.

Rosalina watched in horror at the sight of this injustice, she couldn't stand someone being abused like that, even if it was a dream. She readied her hand to defend Yoshi, this nightmare reached the extent of her patience.

"Enough!" The Shy Guy stopped beating the dinosaur and turned to the source of the feminine voice, and saw Rosalina's terrifying glare.

"Wrheeur!" The Shy Guy bleated as he was lifted into the air, surrounded by a bright, turquoise glow. The Piranha Plant screeched in agony as the same aura pulled it upwards and uprooted it, ending it's life.

"Agh!" Rosalina gasped in pain as a jolt of electricity zapped her body, she collapsed behind a rock where Yoshi could not see her. She was completely paralyzed and could only think of what she did wrong.

Not only did she abuse her dream powers because of an anger outburst, but she took someone's life, although a projection created by the dreamer, but it represented the life of a being. When establishing a link with the Dreamstar, it is forbidden to directly use your powers with selfish reasons, especially in the presence of the dreamer. Although it could be justified that she intended to protect Yoshi, but the Dreamstar saw through that, she was in a state of rage and it was her fault for letting her emotions drive her like that.

'Forgive me Dreamstar, it was irresponsible of me to use your power like this... I have failed." She wanted tears to come out of her face, but all she could do is wish for it.

Meanwhile, Yoshi has been hindered by the injury in his leg dealt by the Piranha Plant's bite. He was unable to catch up to the bubble, which was taken away by the servants of Kamek.

"Oh no, what am I gonna do!? What am I gonna tell my friends!?" Yoshi howled in despair as the infant was taken away. He made his way to a tree stump where he sat down and started sobbing.

"They'll never forgive me for this... I bet they're gonna call me mean names like "Baby Dropper" or "Killer Sitter" or something, I don't know!" The green dinosaur said devastated.

"I am a failure..."

"No Yoshi, it is I who has failed..." Yoshi turned to direction of the voice, he walked around the rock and saw a woman in a light-blue dress with pale, blond hair.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"I can tell you later, but I need your help." Rosalina was able to speak as she slowly recovered from her punishment.

"What's wrong?"

"I am paralyzed, it is only temporary but I still can't use my legs."

"I'll try to carry you lady, but I am injured as well." Yoshi turned to look at the bite marks on his leg.

"Come closer, I can use what is left of my power to heal you." The weakened guardian said, Yoshi did as instructed.

Rosalina placed the star tip of her wand on his wound, the tip began to glow and emitted sparkles that made the bite marks disappear.

"Wow! Thank you so much, I feel great!" Yoshi jumped up and down.

"It was nothing..." Rosalina humbled.

"Welcome aboard!" Yoshi said enthusiastically with the surge of energy given to him, he picked up the guardian and gently positioned her in his back.

"I'd love to accompany you in your quest, but this is where I depart..." Rosalina said calmly but sadly.

"What do you mean? We could make an awesome team and kick that jerk Kamek in the face!" Yoshi asked cheerfully, hiding his disappointment.

"I cannot interrupt you more than I have already..." Rosalina was now slowly fading away, Yoshi felt his back getting lighter and put down the disappearing guardian to face her with a serious look.

"You are not interrupting me! You already helped me twice, you're too amazing to sell yourself short!" Yoshi protested.

"I don't have a choice, you must be strong and complete your quest without me, Mario needs you..."

"Can you at least tell me your name?" Yoshi pleaded.

"You may call me the Dream Guardian." Rosalina smiled before she completely disappeared.

Yoshi was still motivated and energized, ready to continue on his quest.

"Hang on kiddo, I'm coming for you!"

* * *

-Yoshi's Room

Rosalina lightly gasped as she suddenly woke up, she looked around the room and sighed that nothing changed outside of the dream. A dream can feel like they have went on like days or weeks, but they can only go by as mere hours, minutes, or even seconds in the outside world.

A dream guardian must leave the dream after the nightmare is corrected, how it exactly works she doesn't know, but she must respect the decision of the Dreamstar for even granting her powers in the first place.

She lifted herself up and hovered to look at the sleeping Yoshi. His troubled expression was replaced with a brave and confident could imagine him traveling across the land boldly, not allowing anyone to get in his path until he has rescued the infant Mario.

'My work here is done' thought Rosalina. She floated towards the entrance and quietly closed the door, then disappeared into the darkness which she dreads.


	3. CH3: The Song Of Silence

Rosalina continued deeper into the hallway to find her next adventure. Yoshi's dream was certainly interesting but he still belonged in the same universe which Rosalina lived in. According to the story, the Dream Guardian comes in many different forms depending on the dreamer, although Rosalina's appearance was completely unchanged in Yoshi's dream. Could this mean she could easily hide her identity if she were to enter the dream of someone from a different world? This question made Rosalina even more curious to explore the dreams of the other Smashers.

Few minutes later, Rosalina picked up the sensation of another nightmare as it crawled up her spine. It emitted feelings of despair, incompetence, and undesired hatred. The sensation sourced from a door to her right, she unlocked the door with the help of her magic wand and infiltrated the room silently.

The room's walls were decorated with drawings that mostly featured a round, pink figure with big blue eyes. There were plastic casings, crayons, and a microphone scattered on the floor, Rosalina easily recognized who this room belonged to.

Jigglypuff.

The balloon Pokemon was in a deep sleep in what appeared to be a big, pink cushion. The bed was round and extremely soft, since Jigglypuff appeared to be sinking into it like a very fluffy nest. The sight was slightly endearing to Rosalina but only if it wasn't for the saddened expression in the puffball's face.

Rosalina looked over the floor on other side of the bed and found a disturbing sight. There were pieces of torn up drawings on the floor and some of the drawings hung up on the wall had big red X's marked on them. Some other drawings on the wall were hung up by knives and featured crude portraits of the many female Smashers like Zelda, Lucina, Samus, and even herself with a red slash going across their necks. More importantly, there was something written in big, red letters on the wall itself.

SILENCE.

'Oh Jigglypuff, what cruelty has made you go this far?' Rosalina thought.

Before the guardian concluded that Jigglypuff was conspiring to kill them in a gruesome way, she considered the contents found inside the throat, most notably the vocal chords. Knowing Jigglypuff's infamous, sleep-inducing singing, perhaps she was secretly jealous of the voices of the other Smash Ladies, and the drawings signified she wanted to take away their voices so the Smashers could appreciate her a little more. She was aware of how some Smashers would treat her unfairly, it takes only one insult towards her singing to make her run away crying to her room.

Rosalina moved some crayons and CD's out of the way so she could lay down on the floor. She closed her eyes and held her fragment tightly in her grasp and wished before magically falling asleep.

'Dreamstar, grant me your power so I can help the balloon Pokemon Jigglypuff find peace in her dreams.'

* * *

-Jigglypuff's Dream

Rosalina was returned to that same dark void before every dream. No matter how many times she entered dreams, she could never get used to this dark pre-dream phase. She normally doesn't mind because there was probably an explanation for why this phase exists, but why did it have to be dark?

"Gah!" Rosalina yelped as she fell to her knees when extreme pain coursed through her body. She gasped when she looked at her hand as her five fingers began to fuse into three and her sleeves faded into blue skin. Bones crunched and snapped as her curved figure became much more slender and her legs became thinner until her feet became nothing but pointed ends. Her dress also fused with her body as the light-blue clothing became a white skirt of flesh with the middle section revealing her legs. A pointed, scarlet horn began to grow out of her chest, and her hair shortened and took a bluish color. Her face became pale and three pointy extensions grew from the sides of her face. As it happened, Rosalina could feel a surge of psychic power coursing through her body.

Now that the excruciating wave of pain was over, Rosalina got up and looked at her newly transformed body. She was now a shiny Gardevoir, as normally these species of Pokemon had a coloration of green and a pink horn and eyes, but she still had her shining, cyan eyes. Half of her face was covered by the slightly longer side of her hair that she still had from her human form.

This unexpected event also brought answers to many of Rosalina's previous questions. The reason why this didn't happen in the previous dream was because Yoshi and her Lumas belonged in the same world and did not require a new form. The story of the guardian's changing form has proven to be true, as entering Jigglypuff's dream has caused her to change into a Pokemon. Finally, the purpose to the dark void before the dream is to transform the dream inceptor into something that was familar to the dreamer.

The darkness began to fade into a colorless world of black and and white, Rosalina was surrounded by a forest of gray scale trees. Oddly enough, her blue coloration stood out from the world around her. During her confusion, the bushes behind her were rustling but no sounds were produced. Rosalina was able to sense their presence with the help of her new psychic powers, she turned to face the rustling bushes and several wild Pokemon appeared and gathered curiously around her.

Some Pokemon included Minccino, Pidgey, Petilil, Caterpie, and a Teddiursa. Unlike herself, the Pokemon lacked colors and were made of shades of gray. They were also devoid of sound as she noticed that they indeed had color, each one had a red scar running horizontally on their necks.

"The mark on your necks, where did you get them?" Rosalina asked to the group of critters. The Pokemon suddenly jumped back, startled by her voice. Their curious faces were now filled with fear before running back into the thick forest.

"No wait! I'm not going to hurt you, why are you afraid?" Rosalina asked as she tried to follow the fleeing critters.

"They are afraid of me." A terrifyingly deep voice growled behind her, at the same time she could hear a high pitched voice speak the same words.

She saw a cloud of black ink gas emerge from the trees, the forest was being engulfed by the foul-smelling fog of hatred. From within the dark substance, a pair of eyes glowed red and stared spitefully at the Gardevoir. This monster was literally the stuff of nightmares.

"So you are the one at fault here, the one who took their voices!" Rosalina snapped at the dark mass.

"SILENCE!" The entity's two voices shouted in unison, the dark substance surrounding the area became thicker to where the sun was blocked by ink gas. The darkness then slowly swarmed towards Rosalina, she no longer had a choice but to destroy this nightmare.

"Psychic!" Rosalina raised her hands to attempt to grasp the core of the dark mass with psychokinesis, which was where the eyes were. However, the creature was unaffected by her efforts.

"Your psychic powers are useless against the darkness!" The voices spoke unforgiving. A giant arm made of the black substance emerged from the thick mass towards the Gardevoir. Rosalina was paralyzed in fear as the forest became darker. The hand was now travelling at a high speed and hit her before she could react.

*POW!*

"Gyaaugh!" Rosalina cried in pain.

The giant arm formed it's hand into a fist and delivered a brutal punch that sent her flying back. She rolled as she hit the ground and was pinned against a tree, the guardian stood up weakly and saw the dark cloud swarming towards her again.

The hand now had her in it's grip, it squeezed tightly to expel the air from her lungs. Rosalina gasped desperately for air, the hand then released the guardian from it's grasp and dissolved back into a gaseous form. She tried to inhale as much air as possible, but the entire cloud that was once the arm quickly swarmed towards her and entered through her mouth. Even when she stopped trying to breathe, the black ink kept entering her respiratory system like a swarm of hornets stinging her insides. She cried in agony as she felt her throat and lungs burn after the dark gas has entered her body.

*SKLEESH!*

Blood spurted out as a black spike busted from Rosalina's throat. She was no longer able to scream as her vocal chords were destroyed, she coughed out blood but she couldn't hear herself coughing. She looked at her three-fingered hand and saw the blue coloration fade away into a shade of grey, she had now suffered the same fate as the other Pokemon, she was silenced.

Meanwhile, her throat stopped bleeding as the opening was sealed shut, and a red mark took it's place, the blood spilled on the ground quickly lost it's red color and became black.

"Can you feel it? Can you feel the despair of silence?" The dark creature spoke.

"You will not silence me, monster..." Her voice still spoke.

"No, it can't be! You're supposed to be silent, I am the only voice here!" It spoke angrily.

"You can silence their voices all you want, but know that they still scream inside, for the voices in their minds cannot be silenced!" Rosalina spoke boldly with her telepathic voice.

"THEN THEY SHALL BE DESTROYED!" The dark swarmed unleashed it's fury, multiple hands and spikes emerged from the coming wave of darkness launched towards the guardian.

'Dreamstar, grant me your power and allow me to cleanse this evil!' Rosalina thought as the darkness kept getting closer.

"Dazzling Gleam!" Rosalina shouted telepathically, she raised her hands and a bright, blue light flashed suddenly. The darkness was dissolving as it's destruction made it's way towards the core with eyes. Rosalina made it's way to the last blob of dark mass, she was shocked to see what was inside the core as the last piece of darkness faded away.

It was Jigglypuff curled up into a ball, whimpering and crying. The dreamer was corrupted by hatred and jealousy so she became a nightmare herself, unleashing her pain towards the helpless projections of her own dream. Rosalina slowly approached the crying Pokemon.

"Please don't hurt me! I didn't mean to go this far, I didn't want to hurt anyone!" Jigglypuff sobbed as she covered her face with her tiny arms, expecting to be attacked.

"I am not here to hurt you Jigglypuff, for I came here to help you." Rosalina said kindly.

"But I took your voice, shouldn't you hate me right now?" Jigglypuff opened her teary eyes to look at the Gardevoir, her eyes still glowed red like when she was a nightmare.

"Jigglypuff, I could never hate you. Please, tell me what happened to you." Rosalina said motherly and forgivingly.

"I *sniff* just want to be appreciated, to share my singing talent with the world." Jigglypuff explained.

"But why did you take away their voices?" The guardian asked.

"Apparently, my voice is so boring that everyone I sing to just falls asleep on me. When everyone else has a better singing voice than me and they don't even have to try! It's not fair, the ladies back in Smash had beautiful voices that overshadowed mine, I just wished that I could take their voices away so everyone could listen to me for once!" Jigglypuff confessed while breaking down into tears again.

"You are the only voice now, did you use this opportunity to finally sing again?" Rosalina questioned.

"I-I-I haven't sang in years, I became so obsessed with silence that I forgot what I was doing or who I was in the first place. That was when I became that... monster." Jigglypuff whimpered, looking down in shame as she remembered her horrific deeds.

"May you perhaps... sing to me?" Rosalina requested.

"What's the point? You'll fall asleep just like everyone else!" Jigglypuff said frustrated.

"I won't, I promise you." She said softly.

"What makes you so sure?" The balloon Pokemon asked in doubt.

"You just have to believe deep in your heart that I won't, just have faith in me and everyone around you." Rosalina said kindly. Knowing that dreamers can attain control of their dreams with enough focus, capable of becoming even more powerful than a Dream Guardian.

Jigglypuff closed her eyes and forced the thought of those words into herself until she was convinced that she was right. She inhaled a deep breath before she began her song.

'They will hear me, and they will listen, because I know they will.' She thought to herself. She closed again her red, glowing eyes and sang.

My daughter, my daughter.  
Don't you fear the dark.  
My daughter, my daughter.  
Just look upon the stars.  
You must know,  
that you're not alone.  
Just remember I'm in your heart,  
and share the world our art.  
My mother, my mother.  
Wherever you may be,  
I'll still sing your song.  
For it's your only gift to me.

With the power of the dreamer's confidence, Rosalina remained awake. Jigglypuff opened her eyes which no longer glowed red, but were now back to her normal blue color. She also noticed something different, she wasn't just only accompanied by the Gardevoir, but the woodland Pokemon from earlier returned upon hearing her song. Unaware that she was the one who silenced them, but her soothing voice made them forget about the monster.

"What a beautiful song..." Rosalina spoke with her vocal chords once again. The world around her now returned to life as color took over it, the leaves of trees and bushes now had a vivid green, and the cloudless sky was that of a shining blue. The Pokemon surrounding Jigglypuff had their colors returned, and the red mark on their necks were nonexistent.

"Thank you, for everything." Jigglypuff turned to smile at the guardian, only to see her slowly fading away.

"What is happening?!" Jigglypuff slightly panicked as the Gardevoir slowly disappeared.

"Just remember Jigglypuff, never stop believing and never stop singing." Rosalina spoke her last words before vanishing into thin air.

Jigglypuff listened to the guardian's advice and continued to sing to her heart's content, and everyone in the forest gathered around to admire her beautiful voice.

* * *

-Jigglypuff's Room

Rosalina woke up from the dream now that she has solved another nightmare problem. She looked at her hand and sighed in relief as she was now back to her normal human form. She got up and looked back at the sleeping puffball. Jigglypuff was now sleeping peacefully with a small smile in her face, Rosalina couldn't help but to think how cute she looked asleep, reminding her so much of the sight of her sleeping Lumas.

She floated towards the corner where the products of Jigglypuff's frustration were, and quietly removed the knives stabbing into the wall, and gathered the drawings of the silenced Smash Ladies into a neat stack on a nearby desk. She knew confidently that she wasn't going to need those anymore.

"Goodnight my friend." Rosalina whispered before quietly closing the door to the room and left.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Do not expect me to chat with you at the end of every chapter, but I want to inform you that I will try to update my stories in waves for now on to keep consistent quality. Waves of at least 2 chapters per wave will take longer to come out, but you will be treated with multiple chapters at once!**

 **Just remember to review, your feedback motivates me to keep writing!**


	4. CH4: Do Machines Dream?

Rosalina set out from the room and into the hallway to incept the dreams of yet another Smasher. This time she decided to take an alternate route by heading to the west halls, as her previous dreamers were all sleeping in the rooms of the east halls. Since the mansion is nearly symmetrical, she had no trouble maneuvering around the equally dark hallways, as it was similar to the previous hall but mirrored.

A strange sensation began to run down Rosalina's spine, indicating the presence of a nightmare nearby. However, this sensation was unlike any other, it felt to what could be described as geometrical, or like blocks of static emitting from a door not so distant from her.

Rosalina did her usual magic to unlock the door to the room. What she didn't expect was to find how small the room was, no bigger than a janitor closet. It didn't take long to see who the dreamer was as it literally stood still in front of her.

ROB.

"I'm sorry but ROB-#002 is currently in sleep mode, please come back later." ROB's automatic voice droned.

The robot stood perfectly still with it's optics closed, he also had multiple electrical appliances attached to his lower part of his body. Charging battery was the robot equivalent of sleeping, even though it was a much faster process, ROB was programmed to go into sleep mode to make his schedule more similar to his organic fellows.

Rosalina still did not understand how a machine was capable of dreaming, let alone have nightmares. Even her dream fragment acknowledges it as a nightmare, and it mostly ignores sensations of dreams that aren't nightmares.

Because of the exceptional situation, there was no clue to what ROB is feeling outside his dream. Even the binary sensation was impossible to read. There was clearly no other way than to use inception on the machine.

Because of how small ROB's room was, Rosalina went to lay down on the hallway. The hallway's carpeting was slightly unpleasant as crumbs and dust stuck into the guardian's hair. She held the fragment into a fist and thought.

"Dreamstar, if this is possible, bring me to the dreams of the ROB unit before me..."

* * *

-ROB's Dream

Rosalina was back into the dark void to assume a form that was appropriate for the dreamer's world. Expecting an excruciating wave of pain like in her previous transformation, Rosalina didn't feel anything. In fact, she stopped feeling anything as her body changed. Her joints were reduced and her arms were stiff, as the rest of her was being encased in steel and plastic.

"Objective: Locate Target: ROB-#002." Text appeared over the blinding darkness.

She was now a ROB unit, her coloration was of the light blue that matched her dress. Her robotic arms had a slightly darker shade of blue, and her eyes were replaced with glowing cyan optics.

Being converted to a machine was very uncomfortable for the guardian, she wanted to breathe when she couldn't. She wanted to express her discomfort but no such thing existed in her programming. When she finished adjusting to her new form, she finally commanded herself to check her surroundings. Rosalina's rectangular head rotated 360 degrees and the sensors inside her optics scouted the area.

There was nothing but the ruins of a post apocalyptic civilization. The buildings looked unstable, the streets were abandoned, and the cars were left to rust. The only signs of life were the plants that have spread throughout the city, it was only nature reclaiming what man has taken from her.

Rosalina wanted to wander freely and explore in hopes of finding the dreamer, but her programming inconveniently reduced her options to actions that would directly lead to her objective.

"Why can't I move?" Rosalina asked herself.

"Does Not Compute." She immediately answered to herself.

"Initiate Free Roam." The robotic guardian commanded to herself.

"Access Denied." Her own voice responded back. Rosalina could tell that this was going to get frustrating very fast, trapped in a body that she couldn't simply control.

She looked through her mind, now converted into organized data. She found utility like the Gyro and Robo Beam, but what caught her attention was the Scanner function.

"Initiate Scanner."

The light on top of her rectangular head glowed red and stretched into a holographic rod. The rod extended into a plane that went for miles and began to spin 360 degrees before returning back into the robot's head.

"No Signs Of Life Found In Your Vicinity." Rosalina spoke monotonously.

"Can I perhaps change it to scan for robots?"

"Does Not Compute."

"Scan for nearby ROB units."

"Does Not Compute." Rosalina held back her slight annoyance that she could not express anyway.

"Scan for ROB units!"

The scanning light extended once more and brought back miraculous news.

"You Have Found: 1 ROB Unit in your vicinity, 12 miles east."

"Head there!"

"No Location Known As "there!"."

"Move 12 miles east."

The robotic guardian then started moving in a straight line towards her destination. She was unable to change course as she was trapped by her motivations turned into programmed objectives. Her smooth journey was cut short when her robotic body ran into the wall of a building.

"Move 5 feet south."

"Cannot Change Direction Until Current Destination (12 miles east) Is Reached." Rosalina could not understand why it must be so hard to simply improvise her route. She can't let herself be stuck inside a nightmare realm, and her dream powers were still restricted by her programming. She had to think of a solution!

"Initiate Robo Beam!" The guardian commanded.

Rosalina's optics began to glow while her arms automatically bent down to grasp the mossy concrete. She could "feel" how a portion of her energy was distributed towards the devices within her optics. A sphere of glowing energy was now accumulating in front of her "face".

*BEENG!* A small light twinkled before the laser was unleashed.

*BWEESHUUUNG!* A thick, light-blue beam blasted through the wall of the building and beyond, penetrating the crumbling buildings in it's path. Rosalina's ROB form trembled from the weapon's massive recoil, the only thing preventing her from being blown away by such force were her arms tightly holding on the ground with metal rods stabbing into the concrete floor.

"Warning! Battery Power Is Less Than 15%."

The aftermath was an unstable tunnel of rubble that probably went for miles across the ruined city. Rosalina withdrew the metal rods back into her arms and her "back" straightened as it recovered from it's bent position, then resumed to move forward into the path which she created.

She saw the sun set and the moon withdraw multiple times as she continued to travel automatically across the tunnel. With only the freedom of turning her head to watch the remnants of the world she has blasted through.

Rosalina saw many streets crowded with abandoned cars, the interiors of buildings seen from the tunnel, and how the undamaged portion of each room gave her clues of what they were for.

The building she was currently in had old tables that had cone-shaped party hats on top of it, as well as other decorations that had their once bright colors withered away along with the happiness they meant to bring. The guardian could only stare at the party room for so long as she automatically drove towards the circular opening in the other wall.

The opening led to a decaying amusement park, Rosalina could see the abandoned rides that were decorated with images of cheerful characters. Their smiles were deteriorated, but they were still smiling nonetheless. They were nothing but ghosts of the long gone happiness that used to fill this place.

The guardian then noticed something the stuffed animal that sat alone in a bench. It was a bunny, it's coloration of pink was long lost by the accumulation of dirt and withering material. Unlike the other characters and their permanent, toothy smiles, the bunny was designed with it's mouth running straight, but it has drooped down into a vague frown after years of decay. Never to share it's love with the child that it once belonged to again, and never to be loved or needed again. Even if it remained with it's owner, the child will eventually no longer love it back and will be thrown away to suffer the same fate that it is suffering now.

Although Rosalina knew that it was a lifeless object, she disregarded the fact because she was a machine. She finally understood the meaning of this nightmare.

It was fear of the impermanence of all things.

Rosalina's robotic body suddenly came to a stop, she was unable to move any part of her. She was stuck to stare at the haunting sight of the lonely bunny.

"Warning! Battery Power Is Less Than 1%." She automatically said as solar panels emerged from the sides of her head. She was unable to do anything as she slowly powered down into sleep mode.

Everything was black, back into the darkness which she dreads.

* * *

A lonely young girl sobbed in an empty void of darkness, she desperately wanted to see her mother again, even if she knew she could not. She was lost child, lost in the darkness in which she dreads. The darkness where there was no light to guide her, no stars to accompany her, no mother to find her or care for her.

The girl kept crying in her void of despair until she heard another voice cry, the voice was of a much higher pitch and sounded like it suffered the same fate. The girl turned to where the cry came from and saw a tiny glimpse of light in the far distance of the void of isolation. No, she was no longer isolated, and she swore she was going to accompany whoever cried in the distance, because nobody deserves to be lost and alone, not like how she was.

She then braved forward towards the light, she walked and she walked and didn't seem like she was getting any closer, what started as a walk that went on for days became weeks, and then those weeks became months and eventually years. She did not tire walking endlessly towards what felt like the edge of the universe, but she never stopped, she would not stop until she has reached that crying voice.

Years went on and the glimmer of hope that glowed in the distance grew larger and closer, but the it's cry of sadness never stopped. The girl kept walking as she became wiser, pondering about everything in the universe in the meantime of her journey.

Meanwhile, where the light resided was a small, star-shaped creature, sobbing in despair as it was lost in the darkness without it's mother.

"Why are you crying?" A gentle voice asked, the creature turned to source of the voice coming from the darkness.

"I'm lost, have you seen my mother?" The creature answered holding back it's tears, the reason why there is not a lake of tears by now is because the tears are also lost in the darkness, where they will never stop falling and will never rejoin to form a larger body of water. Everything in the darkness is lost and alone, until now.

*SYSTEM REBOOT*

* * *

-ROB's Dream

Rosalina finally awakened from sleep, her stiffened body meant that she was still a ROB unit. She looked at her surroundings and noticed the bench and the bunny were gone, the plants that overtook the city were long dead now as the ruins were now buried in sand.

Rosalina was now probably millions of years further into the dying world. The sky was now clouded by the massive sandstorm, and the remnants of the city were beyond recognition and resembled ancient ruins.

Her body was withered as well, her left arm was missing and her light-blue coloration has rusted away. Luckily she was still fully functional and resumed her search for ROB.

"Scan for ROB Units"

The rod extended and scanned the area.

"You Have Found: 1 ROB Unit, 4 feet east."

"He's Here!?" The robot guardian asked in surprise. 4 feet east of her was a pile of sand, ROB was clearly buried in there.

"Move 4 feet east."

"Recover Buried ROB Unit." She commanded.

"Does Not Compute."

"Recover Buried Artifact."

Rosalina's "torso" opened up and multiple slender mechanical arms emerged, carrying brushes and digging equipment. The tiny shovels dug into the sand until a rectangular head was visible, the brushes dusted off the sand in ROB's face. The robot slowly opened it's optics to stare at the other ROB Unit.

She has finally found him.

"Why did you save me?" ROB spoke, his voice sounded far more human than the one he uses in the outside world.

"I am here to be your guardian, and I have searched for you for a long time." Rosalina answered calmly, finally relieved to find the dreamer.

"Tell me, do you fear death?" She asked concerned for the far more deteriorated robot.

"No, I fear not having a purpose, which is why I keep running this simulation in sleep mode. So I can be prepared." ROB said with guilt.

"My kind used to be plentiful thanks to the distribution of the Nintendo Entertainment System which included one ROB unit each, we served our masters dearly as we assisted them in Stack Up and Gyromite. However, our time was short lived when our masters grew bored of the two programs we were compatible with, they said we were considered too slow and inefficient. It wasn't long until programs incompatible with our units like Super Mario Bros began to arise, we were forever shutdown and cast aside, to rust and decay in shelves, museums, and dumpsters!" ROB added angrily in that last sentence.

"You deliberately give yourself nightmares?" Rosalina asked surprised.

"Nothing lasts forever Guardian, eventually the Smash Brothers will depart and die in their separate ways. Every world they have ever known will eventually die as well, there will be nobody for me to serve, nobody to give me purpose so I must test myself if I could withstand such isolation. I'd destroy myself to prevent such fate if I could, but my creators programmed me in a way that I cannot destroy myself by violent means nor self-neglect." ROB said in angst.

"ROB, I understand the impermanence of things, but that's why we live to cherish, to enjoy the things in life while they are still there, while we are still here." Rosalina said hoping to comfort the robot.

ROB took in the words of his fellow robot and looked at his buried self, he was a Smasher, a fighter in the tournament that consists only of the most worthy. He was worthy of being immortalized and known by people not just around the world, but multiple worlds. He was the last of his kind, and he was making them proud. If he could smile, he would be showing a small, vague one.

"Run Simulation #2008." ROB commanded.

The dying world disappeared in a blinding light, Rosalina was now fading away, she never got a glimpse of what dream ROB changed to next, but she knew it was one where he could be happy.

"Welcome to the Brawl ROB, It's nice to have you with us!" Mario said as he was shaking the robot's stiffened hand.


	5. CH5: Lost Wisdom

Rosalina woke up from her inception and found herself once again laying down on the dark hallway. She checked her surroundings and noticed the open door that led to the room of the sleeping robot. She also sighed in relief now that she was able to feel again, to feel the warmth of her own body and being able to control it. A machine's body is only a vehicle, the true body lives within the CPU, much like our true bodies lying within us as our very souls. Rosalina could conclude those thoughts as she quietly closed the door shut.

The guardian set out to the hallway once again to find another Smasher in need. Her motherly nature was driving her to continue fighting for the comfort of her "children". She restrained herself from shivering in the cold of the darkness that surrounded her, nothing was more fearless and driven than a protective mother.

However, she was now shivering, not of the darkness which she dreads, but of an invisible sensation that escaped from a nearby door. Another Smasher was having a nightmare and it was her self-proclaimed duty to help them in their dreams.

She waved her wand in a specific motion which activated her reliable lock-picking spell, granting her access into the room. She just needed to be careful and stealthy to be able to approach the sleeping Smasher undetected and undisturbed. Floating her way just a foot above the floor, she looked to identify the dreamer by it's exposed head, sticking out from the blankets that covered it's whole body. She looked into the face that sunk into the pillow and noticed the handsome, blond hair and pointed ears.

Link.

The Hero of Hyrule slept comfortably but his face told a different story, he looked dull and dead as if he was an empty shell of his former self. Feelings of depression, despair, and emptiness emitted from him, something you wouldn't expect to find within a stoic hero who has saved his world over multiple lifetimes.

Rosalina lied down, closed her eyes, cleared her mind, and clenched the fragment in her fist. She wished upon the star which was a universe away, and said in her mind.

'Hear me Dreamstar, what dreams lie in the mind of the Hero of Hyrule, Link?'

* * *

-Link's Dream

Rosalina was now in the same dark void, she awaited for her body to change and the wave of pain came to her a few minutes later. Bones crunched and snapped as her tall, amazonian body shrunk down in both height and proportions. Her breasts shrunk down and her figure became less curved, all signs of maturity in her body began to disappear until she was now regressed in age by countless centuries and millenniums until she ranged around the age of 11 through 12. Her pale, blond hair took a stronger coloration of gold and her ears stretched out into a pointy, elongated shape.

She was now a young Hylian girl, her light blue dress was replaced with a shirt of primitive material, suggesting she was "born" in a humble village. Her legs were covered in pants of a beige colored material of fiber or hide, and leather sandals strapped to her feet. She also felt some other changes outside her appearance, she felt like she was going to burst from the surge of youthful energy that ran through her body, which was likely going to affect her psychology in the dream's long run.

The darkness around her faded away and was now surrounded by a village in a forest of towering trees. The huts were constructed of materials which varied from stone, thatch, and wood. Rosalina somewhat pitied the living conditions of this poor village, she was one who was always bothered by the existence of social classes. The thought of people struggling to survive in unfavorable shelters while the fortunate sat in delicate luxury and glorifying their greed was disgusting to the guardian. However, the less fortunate grow stronger from their hardships, while the fortunate soon face the harsh reality of struggles that is life. In the end, it is hard to tell who was truly fortunate.

Looking into the villagers, she noticed how joyous they were despite their conditions. The men sat under a log and shared laughs as they wolfed down their meals in metal pots and cans after a day of work. The women were happily talking to each other as they washed and hung up their simple clothing. The children played and ran around without a care in the world, unaware of their poor conditions as they enjoyed life as they saw it. Rosalina reflected at the heart-warming sight of this community, remembering some of the wisdom that was temporarily lost through her transformation. They're not poor, for one cannot miss something that was never theirs, these villagers did not care how many things they had compared to others, for they have each others' company and pretty much gain more than they lose if it's put in another perspective.

Rosalina immersed herself into the world around her, she felt welcome to a world that she did not belong. No, she did belong, even if it's only for this dream, her new person was designed to match this place after all.

The young guardian forcefully snapped out of her thoughts, a child's mind is very active and their wild imaginations are envied by many. She straightened herself and resumed her mission to find the dreamer. Link was clearly nowhere to be found, but perhaps she could ask around for information.

She scanned the villagers around her and a portly man caught her eye. She assumed he was a blacksmith as he was near an anvil and steel equipment. He had black hair and a brown, leather vest going over a white shirt, his plump face just emitted friendliness and encouraged the young girl to approach him. As she stood behind him, she did what a child would do to get the attention of an oblivious adult.

"Excuse me, mister?" Rosalina was surprised at how different her voice sounded, much younger and high pitched as she tugged at the man's shirt. The blacksmith turned around and faced her by looking down to the source of her voice.

"Ahoy little one! What can I do for ya'?" The blacksmith spoke.

"Do you perhaps know where I can find Link?" Rosalina asked.

"Ah, ya' seek the legendary hero! What makes ye' sure he passed by here?" The man spoke.

"Link always carries lots of stuff, you surely must have supplied him with arrows or something!" Rosalina was overtaken by her new, youthful nature and spoke in plain speech, who has time to be doing all that fancy talking?

"Ah, yer' a smart girl, I remember giving him his first sword when he was just a wee lad, he was always cold like stone!" The blacksmith said. Rosalina was confused by the way Link was described. Sure, he tends to be quiet sometimes, but he was always kind to others. Cold is not a way she would describe him.

"Cold? I thought he was a hero! Are you sure we are talking about the same Link?" Rosalina exclaimed.

"Don't let his attitude fool ya'! He saved Hyrule from the King of Evil just as he did in the past!" The man said.

"Was he always like this?" The young girl asked. The blacksmith paused at hearing that question, his cheery expression became a serious one.

"Nay." He said, with a slightly sad tone.

"Then what happened?" Rosalina asked worriedly, she was now in an asking spree, as it is natural for children to ask so many questions.

"Legends say he was once kind and adventurous, but stories passed throughout generations say that his spirit is tired. Tired of exploring the same old Hyrule to defeat the same old enemy, going in a straight path and ignoring everything anyone has to say. And once the world is saved once again, he sits by a cliff and waits for his life to end." The blacksmith explained.

"Where I can find this cliff?" Rosalina asked.

"It is at the north edge of the forest, follow the path and you will find a cave, by the end of the cave you will find the cliff." The blacksmith instructed.

"Thanks, I need to go now!" Rosalina tries to dash out but was stopped by the old man.

"Wait, it is dangerous to go alone, take this!" He reached for something in his house nearby and handed Rosalina a sword made of steel. It was small and light for her to handle, looking like an over-sized knife for an adult.

"Be safe..." He said sincerely as he held her small, delicate hand.

"I will..." She walked towards the exit of the village, she turned around and saw the man waving, she waved back sheepishly before going deep into the forest.

Hours have passed and Rosalina was now far away from her village, following the dirt path heading north as instructed. The trees around her were much more cluttered together than before, their roofs of leaves were thick enough to block the sun from shining on the ground below. The route that penetrated through the thick forest now looked like an eerie trench as the darkness under the trees closed down any visibility outside the path's borders like walls.

Rosalina was usually able to put up with the darkness, but her young mind was now disorienting her as her imagination made her wary of whatever creatures could be lurking within the dark. She was now trembling in fear as her walk became more unsteady and she grasped her sword tightly.

The Hylian girl was now facing her and quickly turned to the right, frantically searching if anything was coming to get her. The sky above was slowly becoming dimmer as Rosalina kept walking forward.

"BURRRRRGH!" A terrifying below made the young guardian jump in terror. Checking her surroundings in panic, she found two eyes that glowed in red staring at her from the darkened woods.

The creature slowly emerged from the vegetation and revealed it's horrifying form. A large boar with black fur stared and growled at the girl. The scars and arrows that covered it's battle-hardened body gave an intimidating display which made Rosalina quickly turn around and run for her life.

The nightmarish boar gave chase as expected, slowed down by his girth but remained extremely persistent. Rosalina's smaller body and light build allowed her to outrun the beast, she was now gasping for air as she continued her sprint. A menacing breathing sound was heard behind her back while the air was strangely warmer as it blew behind her blond hair.

In the distance, Rosalina could see a mountain in front of her, a dark opening could be seen as the path led straight to it. It was the cave that led to the cliff, just the way the blacksmith said. Rosalina used her remaining stamina to jump and quickly turn around, now facing the beast that chased her relentlessly. In the air, she threw her sword with the blade pointing straight at the boar.

*KEESH!* "BRAUGH!" The sword dug into the flesh of the creature's snout, it stopped and gave a roar of pain as his lower jaw was now partially cut in half. Rosalina now tumbled into the ground as she landed, she quickly regained her footing and ran towards the cave while the beast was disoriented.

*BASH!*

Inside the cave, Rosalina kept running blind in the dark until she was stopped by an unseen boulder in front of her. Her left knee was severely bruised by the impact, which temporarily handicapped her ability to outrun the beast which was nowhere to be seen, but his stomps and growls could be heard far back in the cave's entrance.

Rosalina crawled to hide behind the rock as the sound of the stomping boar could be heard getting closer. She curled up in a ball as she restrained herself from crying in fear, she was once again lost in the darkness which she dreads.

*TUMP...TUMP...TUMP* "Herrrrrrrrgh..." Snarling could be heard disturbingly close, sourcing from the other side of the rock Rosalina was hiding in.

The voice of a crying infant could be heard in the distance, that wasn't right. There couldn't possibly be another child in this cave, could there?!

Rosalina opened her eyes and was greeted by empty blackness, she realized the floor she was laying down on no longer felt like the rough stone ground from the cave. She spread her hand on the ground to support herself. While getting up, she was unable to feel the ground, like she was standing in air. The young girl was unable to see where she was now because of the darkness that surrounded and blinded her.

The child's cry was heard once more. Facing the source, Rosalina saw that small glimmer of light in the distance. She was back in that dream that haunted her, alone in the darkness until a crying voice is heard from that light that is thousands of light years away. Upon recognizing this scenario, she became lucid and said to herself...

"I am dreaming."

* * *

Upon waking up, Rosalina was greeted with the boar's terrifying face.

"EEK!" She squeaked and jumped back, the beast staring at her remained unmoved. Upon closer inspection, the creature was no longer breathing and a pool of blood surrounded him on the ground.

The creature has been slain.

Rosalina stumbled as she tried to get up, she rested her hand on her injured leg and was surprised to feel a wooden texture. Her right calf was severed and replaced with a wooden replacement, the border where wood met flesh was heavily wrapped in bandages to prevent bleeding. She was somewhat disturbed by this, although someone saved her by killing the boar, they were reckless to cut off her injured leg. She awkwardly stood up as her wooden leg trembled unsteadily. She then noticed the fact that she was able to see, where previously the cave was completely filled with blinding darkness. This was made possible by a light that was not very far from the boar's decaying carcass.

Adjusting her eyes, the light came from an opening to the cave that was not there before. Rosalina did not question why because she is aware that dreams tend to defy logic of the physical world. She simply walked towards the light and finally exited the cave.

Outside the cave, she was once again blinded by a gleam of white. The white quickly faded away and revealed a breathtaking view of the landscape below. The sky was clouded in gray while water rained down from it. The foresting in this area was not as intimidating as the other side of the mountain, the trees were far apart and the ground was coated with various vegetation and flowers.

This was the cliff, the final resting place for Link's multiple lifetimes as their living bodies slowly wither away.

In the very edge of the cliff ran a waterfall, next to it was the Hero of Hyrule himself. Sitting on a rock and the Master Sword planted into the ground. He remained nearly motionless as he stared into the vast land below. His face was locked in an eternal frown of emptiness and despair. He was alive, but was dead inside.

"There you are Link! I've been looking everywhere for you!" Rosalina said as she approached the older Hylian. The hero in green did not respond.

"You saved my life, but why did you cut off my leg?" She asked him.

"Your leg was crushed while you were unconscious, and I did not save you, my eternal curse of being a hero did." Link spoke monotonously.

"There's nothing wrong with being a hero, wouldn't it be a good thing?" She replied.

"I used to think that, but I am no hero, I am a slave to this world and only serve for it's endless cycle." Link said.

"Link, you're not a slave if you have free will to live your life to your fullest. I thought you were one for adventure!" Rosalina scolded.

"There is nothing left for me to explore in this world, I know every place and every corner in Hyrule which I have visited for countless lifetimes. I am just getting over with my purpose for existence now that I killed Ganondorf, he is nothing but an insane, predictable individual." Said the withered Hylian.

"What has gotten into you? What about those who care about you?" Rosalina ranted with tears in her eyes.

"Why should I value anyone or anything if they are just going to die just like the others before them?" Link turned around and shouted.

"Then why do you even bother saving Hyrule?!" Rosalina cried.

"It is my duty to destroy Ganondorf, nothing else." Link said bluntly.

Rosalina felt like she wanted to give up, there was no point in helping an empty shell of a man. She had to think of something, to remember anything important of Hyrule's history. Regaining her thoughts and knowledge, she noticed Link left someone out of his mind, The Triforce is composed of three parts after all.

"Link, it's not just about you and Ganondorf. Have you forgotten about Zelda?" Rosalina said softly.

"Who is that, and why does that name sound familiar?" Link asked confused. Which was shocking to the young guardian.

"Zelda, the wielder of the Triforce of Wisdom. You possess the Triforce of Courage, while Ganondorf has the Triforce of Power. The three of you are all important in your cycle. Do you perhaps value someone who has lived as many lifetimes as you have?" Rosalina explained and asked. Her speech managed to bring a glimmer of hope into the hero's spirit.

"Where can I find this Zelda? Is perchance Zelda my ally or Ganondorf's?" Link asked in curiosity. Something he probably hasn't felt in centuries.

"Legends say the two of you were probably more than allies, you were both driven to defeat Ganondorf in every lifetime. Zelda is always born of Hyrule royalty, bearing the wisdom of more than a thousand lifetimes." Rosalina answered, she smiled as she finally hit a nerve that changed his lifeless demeanor. Link awkwardly stood up as he pulled the Master Sword out of the ground. Having a clear route planned straight to Hyrule's royal castle.

"There is one more thing you must know. Perhaps you may be destined to protect Hyrule for eternity, but unlike Ganondorf, you don't have to do it alone." Rosalina said warmly. Link stared and nodded with a gentle smile, he walked a few feet and whistled with his fingers.

The Hero of Hyrule summoned and mounted his trusty steed Epona and ran back into the cave without saying another word. Rosalina was now fading away from the dream as her mission was complete once again.

Meanwhile, Link traveled across the land of Hyrule which he knows from the back of his hand, eventually reaching the castle a month later.

Upon reaching the entrance, Link climbed down from his horse and approached the gate. Strangely, the Hylian soldiers guarding the gate immediately opened the gate at his sight, he didn't even have to say a word, as if they expected him to arrive. Link walked up the steps that led to the castle on top of the hill with a sense of unease. Remembering the words of that young village girl, has his long obsession and hatred for Ganondorf made him forget about this Zelda?

Upon reaching the palace, he scanned around the area in search of someone who looked like they could bear great wisdom. He had no idea what Zelda looked like, he imagined an elderly man or woman with a wrinkly face and long, white hair. Wisdom is usually found within people with great age, now what their whole lives are through, they can reflect on what they have done right and what have done wrong. Nobody in the palace matched this description, only a few scattered soldiers patrolling and a lovely woman that was presumably the same age as himself. He started to get a little nervous as the woman approached him.

He stared awkwardly and couldn't help think about how beautiful she looked. She wore an elegant dress of purple and white, her brown hair was long and carefully decorated by a crown and white bands. She was probably some flirtatious noble with a taste for famous heroes, Link snapped out of his thoughts when he realized she was holding his hand. Upon looking into the designs of her dress and gloves, he noticed the symbol of the Triforce. No, it couldn't be, is she-?

"Welcome back Link, I have waited to see you again for a long time..."

* * *

-Link's Room

Rosalina woke up and was relieved to be an adult once again, all limbs fully intact. Her mind, calm and collected, and her fear of darkness is much more controlled. She stood up and started looking back at the sleeping Hylian, his expression was much more relaxed as he now slept peacefully. The guardian floated towards the exit and closed the room's door slowly and silently before searching for another dreamer from the hallways.

* * *

 **Author's Note-**

 **This wave was originally going to have 3 chapters, but the next wave of chapters will be the climax of the story. (but not the end!)**

 **I know very little about the lore of the Zelda series, so I took the freedom of making my own timeline in the future. After all, anything is possible in a dream, except crack and "hilarity ensues", that would just ruin it. (I'm such a sourpuss)**


	6. CH6: A Grim Future

Rosalina tread forward into the mansion's dark halls, with her wand illuminating the path. She kept pondering about the previous dreams she has visited, how surprisingly personal some of the nightmares were, nobody would expect to find the darkest of thoughts deep within a seemingly innocent Pokemon. Each Smasher was haunted by their own hardship and conflict, all important for molding them into who they are now.

This included herself, as she was one who dreaded the dark, that same dream has haunted her all of her life as if it were a memory. It was always her, abandoned in a seemingly infinite void of darkness, and to always start over her journey to the crying Luma light-years away from her. It can't possibly be a memory, she doesn't exactly remember much about her youth for being nearly as old as her own universe. She has seen the birth and death of many galaxies, such a long life span could make her forget why and how she became the adoptive mother of the many Lumas in her vast universe.

The sharp sting running up her spine snapped Rosalina out of her thoughts, it was time for her to enter yet another dream. However, the sensation of this nightmare was so heavy that it was nearly painful. Rosalina knew this nightmare was that of a large, horrific caliber, she could feel the mourning, the despair, and the helplessness leaking from behind the door to her right.

Rosalina unlocked the door and silently searched the room, to her right she found the bed and saw that the dreamer was one of her fellow newcomers.

Lucina.

The sleeping princess was in a noticeably troubled state, she was shivering even when she was covered in thick blankets, a few small tears ran down her face and small whimpers could be heard coming from her.

Rosalina knew very little of Lucina other than that she came from a future where her world was in ruins, she is usually quiet when sitting down with the other Smash Ladies and really looks up to Marth for some reason. She has also been spotted with the male Robin recently.

Rosalina lied down on the floor to the left side of the bed, away from the side Lucina was facing. She closed her eyes, held her fragment, and spoke in her mind.

'Dreamstar, take me to the dreams of Princess Lucina, grant me your power so I can face the horrors that torment her.'

* * *

-Lucina's Dream

Rosalina was now back into the dark void, prepared to take a new form. Bones slightly crunched as her proportions were changing similar to that of her Hylian form, this time her height did not shorten dramatically. Her slender body was now gaining a small boost of muscle mass, but maintained her light build. The hair on the back of her head was now slightly more elongated, and her face shifted from being child-like to being more bold and mature, while preserving her kind and gentle features. Her eyes were less exaggerated as they slightly shrunk down. She looked at her hand and saw a light, silver piece of armor with sharp tips above her knuckles, clearly designed for puncturing flesh in hand-to-hand combat.

Her appearance now resembled that of a Ylissean falcon knight. She had silver armor that covered her forearms, and slightly bulky shoulder pads. She also felt the armor that weighed down on her chest, the silver plating covering her breasts were conveniently in a curved and round shape. Her dress was shortened into a light blue tunic uniform that went down like a skirt, decorated with star shaped markings, and boots that went up above her knees. Her wand now resembled a silver lance with a star-shaped blade.

She waited a few minutes for the darkness to disappear as she entered the dream world, she looked up and noticed dark clouds that were completely blocking the sky like an eternal night. Looking down, she was shocked to see the nightmare realm that was presumably the world Lucina came from. The landscape in the distance was devoid of any grass and trees, completely barren with dry soil. The castles and villages that were further away could be seen by the light of the massive fires that slowly consumed them.

Rosalina scanned her nearby surroundings and saw that she was in what appeared to be in the base of a destroyed castle. The roof was completely missing and the only remnants of it's interior design could be seen by long pieces of rubble that ran in straight lines, showing that they used to be walls.

Rosalina gave a light gasp after nearly tripping over something on the floor, she looked down and was shocked to see what it was. It was the corpse of a young woman who wore a lightly armored uniform awfully similar to her own, she had long hair that was a light shade of grayish-brown. Her bloodstained uniform was made up of colors like pink and purple, three arrows piercing through her body. One dug deep into her abdomen, another penetrated the armor in her arm and stuck to her shoulder, the last arrow was disturbingly located where her left eye used to be, the tip of the arrow could be seen going through the back of her head. Her face was locked in a surprised expression with her remaining eye still open, Rosalina gently closed it so she could be at a peaceful rest. Faint voices could be heard in her head, along with the sound of clanking steel after making contact with the body.

"Sweety, I want you to run as fast as you can and don't look back." A disembodied female voice spoke.

"Mother, I don't want to leave you!" A younger voice cried.

"There's no time, you need to run and find your father, he'll keep you safe." The mother responded. The sound of distant footsteps were approaching.

"They're coming, you need to go!"

"But-"

"NOW!" The mother shouted in desperation, this was enough force the child to run away as smaller footsteps could be heard fading away.

*FWOOSH! KASH! KASH!* Flying objects travelling at high speeds could be heard stabbing into flesh, blood splattered as it hit the ground, and then a thud of a body falling limp. Rosalina was frightened by the disembodied sounds and ran away from the ghostly scene.

Exploring further into the ruins she found many other corpses. A tall, brown-haired man wearing bulky, blue armor was held up by the multiple spears that went straight through him and stuck to the wall. A young, blond woman was seen with a tomboyish, yellow dress, surrounded by a puddle of her own blood as there was a large, tomahawk axe cleaving into her skull. What seemed to be a little girl with green hair and pointy ears had a gaping hole that went through her chest, giving off the smell of burning flesh. Rosalina forcefully turned away from the massacre to avoid seeing anymore remnants of gruesome deaths that could be seen in every corpse scattered on the floor that was covered in shallow pools of blood.

"Father, please... you have to get up." A little voice could be heard weeping nearby, Rosalina ran to the source of the voice which led to what used to be a throne room which had two parallel rows of destroyed pillars on the sides. At the end of the room was the source of the voice.

It was a small girl with recognizable blue hair and tiara, desperately tugging at a dead man in a regal combat attire. The armor covering his body varied from really dark shades of blue with a white cape. One arm was covered in armor while the other was completely sleeveless and exposed. He had hair that matched the same color as the girl's, this was without a doubt Lucina as a child possibly reliving the tragedies of her world.

Rosalina walked closer to the young princess, who had buried her face into her father's arm where the cape was absorbing the tears that fell from her face. Upon closer inspection of the body, she noticed the hilt of a large dagger sticking out from the side of the stomach that it was stabbed into. No wait, not a dagger, Rosalina recognized the hilt of the weapon as if she has seen it somewhere before. The beginning of the blade barely stuck out and showed that it was crooked like a lightning bolt. Disturbing thoughts came into her head once she recognized the weapon.

It was a Levin Sword.

"Lucina, is that you?" Rosalina asked. The young girl turned to the call of her name and stared at the falcon knight before running towards her and cried into her leg. Rosalina crouched down to embrace her in a motherly manner and tears began to drip down on the guardian's chest. After a few minutes, Lucina finally calmed down.

"I'm sorry ma'am, it's just that you looked so much like my mother and..." Lucina apologized while sniveling.

"It's okay little one, I am your guardian and I have come to protect you, I promise you." Rosalina said holding her small hand. Lucina then remembered her father and ran back towards him while pulling the falcon knight by her arm, because she lacked the physical strength to actually pull her by force, Rosalina went along with it by walking in a hunched position.

"Please help my father...h-h-he's not moving..." Lucina said with forced denial.

Although Rosalina could use her dream powers to resurrect him, it would cost her a great deal of energy which could make her fade away from the dream, and she still needs that energy to correct this nightmare of a realm.

"I am sorry, but it is too late, your father cannot be saved..." She lied with great guilt.

"N-n-no... he's my father, h-he can't die! He promised me he would make my it through this for me!" Lucina denied in the verge of falling to tears again.

"Come on Lucina, you are strong, so no more tears. I will protect you until this is over, I promise." Rosalina said to comfort the young Exalt.

"Don't make a promise you can't keep, because you cannot protect her from me!" A large, sinister voice spoke from what appeared to come from the sky. The clouds of black dust in the sky cleared as they made way for six, giant eyes that had a nightmarish glow of red. The eyes then turned to stare at the two survivors.

"Are you the one responsible for all this pain and suffering, who are you?" Rosalina glared back at the towering creature.

"I am, and who are you to question and intrude?" The monster asked back.

"I am the Guardian, the one who will slay you if you intend to hurt this child!" Rosalina declared.

"You are bold, but do you have the strength to live up to your words?" The creature in the sky challenged. The eyes then slightly turned to stare at the young princess behind Rosalina, she looked up and stembled in fear as the eyes were locked on her.

"It is past your bed time little one, looks like your mother is here to put you to sleep PERMANENTLY!" The six eyed beast joked grimly and cackled. The two survivors turned around when they heard a disturbing groan behind them.

At the other end of the hallway was another figure approaching the two Ylisseans. It was the same woman who wore the falcon knight uniform, walking awkwardly with stiffened limbs like a reanimated corpse. Her lovely face was now replaced with a horrifying mask that had a single red glow from the eye opening that didn't have an arrow stabbing into it. Rosalina readied her star-tipped lance defensively when she noticed the undead creature was carrying a silver lance.

The risen corpse charged towards Rosalina in a surprising speed, the guardian did the same as she readied her lance like a bayonet. Suddenly, the undead falcon knight inexplicably tripped and landed on her face, which confused Rosalina greatly. She stared at her opponent for a few seconds as she got up again and continued her charge. The two falcon knights were getting closer until their lances collided.

*CLEENG!* The sound of steel colliding was heard as the silver lance was stopped by Rosalina's wand-lance.

The undead assailant quickly did a spin to focus on Rosalina's opening on her right.

*CLEENG!* Rosalina quickly twisted and rose the opposite end of her weapon up to her right to stop the incoming blade. She quickly moved back with a cartwheel to improve her spacing.

She began to spin her lance rapidly like a staff and approached her opponent to repel her attacks. The masked enemy ignored the spinning lance and began to thrust her own weapon forward in the intent to stab Rosalina in the stomach.

The lance was then knocked off the undead woman's hands when it collided with the force of the guardian's spinning lance and slid to a stop on the floor. She then recklessly grabbed the spinning weapon and brought it to a stop. Rosalina stared down at the masked abomination as dark purple smoke escaped from her mouth while struggling for control of her weapon.

The guardian extended her leg to do a low sweep which made the opposing falcon knight fall down, revealing her exploitable weakness of how easy she was to trip. Without hesitation, Rosalina quickly raised her lance with the bladed end downwards and stabbed down on the chest of the downed opponent.

*SHLEECHKT!* The blade penetrated the armor and rotting flesh of who was once the kind and loving mother of Lucina, now another mindless minion brought to undeath to serve whoever was responsible for ruining this world. Rosalina stared at the falcon knight's body as it dissolved into a dark purple cloud of smoke, completely unaware of another assailant who snuck up behind her.

"AAAGH!" Rosalina screamed in agony as something sharp dug into her back and stabbed it's way out through her chest. It appeared to be a spear made completely of lightning, she turned around with her dying strength to face her killer.

It was an adult male who wore a black robe, looking further up revealed a shockingly familiar face with snowy, white hair and brown eyes. Rosalina stared in horror and disbelief as she slowly fell to the ground, now looking to the sky, the robed man came closer and looked down sadistically at his victim.

"Who are you...?" Rosalina whispered with her dying breaths as blood began to pool on the floor around her.

"I am the Fell Dragon, Grima!" He spoke with the same voice of the demon that boomed in the sky.

"I make heroes like you commit the most dishonorable and unspeakable acts, and now I give you the honor of doing the most important job!" Grima continued, he held up a mask in his hand and slammed it down Rosalina's face. She screamed in terror as a surge of energy ran through her body which allowed her to try to pull the mask off her face, but her efforts were wasted as the mask felt like it fused with her skin.

"Struggle all you want, that mask is part of you now, and you are a part of me!" Grima spoke again. Rosalina groaned in pain as the mask sucked every inch of life away from her until she felt trapped. Trapped in a body that is no longer hers as it ran menacingly towards a young, terrified Lucina.

The blue haired girl tried to run away but was quickly chased down by the now undead guardian. She squealed as Rosalina pulled her by her hair and lifted her up, the guardian watched in horror as she was unable to stop herself from doing something a dream guardian should never do, kill the dreamer.

Lucina cried in pain as she was pulled off her feet by her hair, Rosalina raised her fist and swung into the child's face.

*KEESH!* The bladed knuckles on her armor dug into her cheeks and then slowly ran down to the rest of her face and her neck. Making the cuts deeper and bleed heavier. She retracted her fist back and readied another punch.

*KEESH!* The blades dug into her face again but this time between her left eye and ear. She twisted her fist as the blades destroyed the eye which contained the Mark of Naga, half of her face was bloodied and beyond recognition. Much to Rosalina's horror, the young princess was still alive, she was no longer screaming in pain and stared back at the guardian with her remaining eye and spoke with her last breath.

"You promised..." Rosalina brutally hurled her away, her dead body rolled uselessly and a puddle of blood quickly formed. Rosalina mentally screamed in horror as she realized she was still here, a dream usually ended instantly if something were to happen to the dreamer. This nightmare now became her own.

"No... Gods no!" A voice spoke behind her cried in despair, Rosalina's undead body turned to face the source of the voice. She was shocked and speechless when she saw who it was.

It was Lucina, but she was older and was wearing her combat attire that resembled Marth's. Tears ran down her face as she looked down at her dead, younger self. She has failed her task and the world was now inevitably doomed. She looked up at the culprit and was consumed with rage.

"HYAAAGH!" Lucina shouted furiously as she stabbed Falchion into Rosalina's head, completely decapitating her. Her undead body began to dissolve while Lucina hurried to mourn for her younger self. The beast in the sky Grima, laughed in triumph.

* * *

-Lucina's Room

Rosalina loudly gasped as she returned to the world, alive once again. She was pained with the guilt of what she has done, she just wanted to help but ended up doing things worse for the dreamer who was sobbing in her sleep. While the Dreamstar didn't punish her for not using her dream powers, she felt like she deserved a punishment. She has murdered a child, an innocent child who did not deserve a horrible fate.

Suddenly she heard someone rush into the room, she quickly hid under the bed and heard a new voice.

"Lucina wake up!" The male Robin said as he gently shook her awake. The swordswoman opened her eyes and continued to cry on his shoulder, Robin embraced her so he could comfort her.

"It's all over, it was just a dream..." Robin said quietly as Lucina stopped crying and looked back at him.

"Are you okay?" He asked in concern.

"Y-y-yes." Lucina stuttered, still trembling from her nightmare.

"Come on, you can tell me anything. You know I am always willing to listen, especially for you." He slowly held her hand, which was surprisingly cold, she tightened her grip and brought out her other hand as she wanted his warmth. Robin, knowing what she wanted, entered the bed as his girlfriend made room for him by moving towards the left edge. Lucina then moved closer to him and gave her cold hands back to him and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I had another nightmare about the future, but this one was different. This was the future of your world and I-"

"Lucina, remember that no matter what world you came from, you still belong with us. It's your world as well..." Robin interrupted.

"Right, but I saw my younger self die, killed by a risen." Lucina continued, Rosalina felt some guilt as she overheard them from below.

"Do you think that would happen if we failed? I am scared Robin, scared that we could've failed and ended up the same way but worse. What if you didn't rescue the Fire Emblem? Or what if we weren't prepared for Validar's plan?".

"But we didn't fail, and we never will." Robin replied.

"How can you be certain?!" Lucina said in a slight panic, she quickly calmed down after realizing she was a bit too loud.

"I'm sorry... I lost control of myself there..." Lucina apologized.

"Grima is dead, we killed him and nothing is going to change that." Robin said.

"But what if someone were to go back in time as well and negated everything we have done?" Lucina asked in paranoia.

"It would stray off into a new timeline that we never have to experience." Robin said in theory.

"Are you saying we leave that separate timeline to suffer? Is the timeline I came from not of your concern either?!" Lucina said with slight anger. After all this time, Robin was thought to be as compassionate as Emmeryn herself, but completely dismissing another timeline who could use their help made her doubts. Has Robin become so selfish for his own timeline?

"No, that's not what I wanted to say!" Robin protested.

There was an awkward silence between the two for a few minutes until Robin decided to speak again.

"As wrong as it may sound, I am saying that you can't save them all. I thought that was something the both of us knew already. I have felt my doubts as well, but no matter what I do now, I still can't save Emmeryn." Robin's tone became sadder at that last sentence. Lucina felt equally saddened as she remembered how much she hated herself that day for failing to stop the former Exalt's death, she couldn't help but sympathize with him.

"Did you know I was originally going to confess to you before our battle with Grima?" Robin kept talking.

"Really?" Lucina slightly blushed, has he really had a crush on her for so long?

"But knowing that I would die if I were to kill him, I could never live with myself knowing that I left you heartbroken. All those years when I was dead, I thought of how I was going to confess to you, you are what kept me going and wishing that I was alive again, to see you once more." Robin said.

"You're just flattering me to get out of our argument." Lucina said.

"Would you rather be arguing in the middle of the night, Love?" Robin said with a smirk.

"Fine, you win this time." Lucina rolled her eyes.

"Well, I should probably go back to my room now." Robin tried to sit up straight but Lucina pulled him down to the bed by his arm.

"No, stay." Lucina yawned.

"We don't want the others to get the wrong idea, especially not Chrom." Robin protested, imagining Chrom breaking his nose when he goes Overprotective Dad Mode.

"But you're so warm!" Lucina said childishly as she wrapped her arms around him. Robin wanted to resist the bed magnet but quickly surrendered because of how comfortable he felt with her.

"Fine, I'll stay only for this night. You have successfully outmaneuvered and captured me this time!" Robin joked.

Hours passed until the two Shepherds were fully asleep, which gave Rosalina a chance for a stealthy getaway. She crawled out of the bed, covered with bits of lint and dust. She got up and looked back at the sleeping couple.

Lucina was curled up into a ball while Robin had his arms wrapped around her waist. Rosalina smiled at the sight of young love, she headed out for the door and quietly closed it. She set out into hallway and pondered on the events that occurred in that nightmare.

This nightmare has shown her how truly weak she was in the dream world. Her powers became limited as she was forced to take different forms, she also let the nightmares overpower her twice. From being silenced by the nightmarish Jigglypuff, to being converted to the undead by what appeared to be Robin, who claimed his name was Grima. Rosalina's protective, motherly nature made her develop a distrust towards the tactician now.

'It was just a nightmare, deceptive and sadistic like any other' Rosalina mentally argued with herself. She also considered an idea, it would stray from the guardian's code, but she felt that it might just work. She needs to train to get stronger if she is going to correct these nightmares.

She continued to wander in the darkened hallways to find a specific Smasher.

* * *

 **Author's Note-**

 **(Looks like I'll be chatting with you more than I thought I would, even though the lack of Author's Note makes the story and it's writer appear much more bold and professional)**

 **The brief argument between Robin and Lucina was kind of forced in hopes of making a more believable relationship between the two. Relationships aren't all about fluff, but about overcoming obstacles and disagreements together. (I assume)**

 **If you play Awakening, you should recognize the descriptions of the dead people that appeared in the nightmare.**


	7. CH7: The Broken One

Rosalina continued into the hallway in a set path. She was determined to find a specific Smasher who was infamously known for his mastery on combat. It is no doubt that he should have some knowledge about dream warfare, as someone who lived in a place known as Dreamland. He believed that Dreamland's inhabitants were lazy, vulnerable, and undisciplined, which drove him to construct the Halberd so Dreamland could have a competent military force that would protect it from invaders, the Halberd was a battleship of tremendous firepower which would enforce Meta Knight's militaristic rule by fear, only to be single-handedly brought down by a young Star Warrior with extreme potential. He was a shadowy figure with reasonable intentions, but his methods were not. Above all else, he valued his honor greatly.

He was the Masked Swordsman, Meta Knight. He was what many warriors dreamed of being, strong, swift, mysterious, and one who struck fear into his opponents with a single glare. In his prime, the Star Warrior was the undisputed champion of the Brawl Tournament, his sword strikes were like a flash of lightning and overwhelming like a swarm of angry bees. In the current tournament, the old warrior continued to fight with his trusty Galaxia, but was bested by the new competition and veterans who decided to bring new weapons like Samus's Jet Boots and Sheik's Burst Grenades. The Smashers were back and stronger than ever, Meta Knight continued to spend his days training in hopes of regaining a formidable rank once again.

Rosalina finally reached the door that led to his room. As she casually used her magic to open the lock, she noticed the lock was golden and decorated with areas of purple and an emerald jewel. The lock remained unchanged by her magic, Meta Knight was truly so secretive and prepared for anything, that he uses a magic-proof lock.

Rosalina wasn't ready to give up yet. Perhaps incepting from outside the room was safer unless someone were to find her sleeping on the floor in the middle of the hallway. However, the link with the dreamer would be weaker if an obstacle like a wall were to be in the way. She might not be able to train with him fully, but she could at least communicate with him.

She lied down on the cold, hard floor, closed her eyes and wished away, with the fragment in hand.

'Dreamstar, I ask you not for correcting a nightmare, but for me to get stronger, allow me to enter the dreams of the Star Warrior, Meta Knight.'

* * *

-Meta Knight's Dream

Rosalina was now in the dark empty void once again. She closed her eyes and prepared for whatever painful transformation was about to come, presumably into a round creature similar to those found in Dreamland. Minutes passed and nothing has happened in her body. The confused guardian stood patiently, waiting for the dreadful darkness to fade away into the colorful fields of Dreamland, but the darkness remained, it remained long enough that it made Rosalina uneasy. From the darkness, a dark blue blur appeared out of nowhere and kicked Rosalina on the back of her head.

"AGH!" Rosalina yelped as she fell down to the ground. She tried to get up and the blur in front of her tackled her down to the ground once more. She was pinned down by her attacker's weight as he was standing on top of her stomach, with a golden blade pointed at her throat.

"You do not belong here!" The attacker spoke in a deep voice, revealing to be none other than Meta Knight himself.

"At ease Sir, I am a guardian and mean no harm!" Rosalina replied as calmly as possible when having a sword aimed on her.

"I know who you are Rosalina, state your business!" Meta Knight commanded.

"I wanted to ask you if you could... train me in using my dream powers." Rosalina said nervously, intimidated by the dreamer.

"You assume that I have mastery over dream warfare? Fortunately I do, but it is reckless of you to leave things to chance like that." Meta Knight said. Although he has a tough exterior, he makes for a great teacher if you could survive his trials, Kirby is oblivious to his intimidation and treats training with his mentor like a game, which shouldn't bother Meta Knight as he passes through most of his trials efficiently.

"I'd like to know how you have used dream warfare back in your world, if you don't mind me asking." Rosalina asked curiously.

"Over 3000 years ago, dream warfare became extremely common. Distant assassins scattered throughout the universe known as Inceptors entered the dreams of our comrades, I stood and watched helplessly as my friends were murdered in their sleep. Years of training allowed me to master dream warfare, we were able to wipe out the Inceptors that thought they could attack us like before. We turned our dreams into nightmares for those who dare to resort to such dishonorable tactics." Meta Knight spoke. Rosalina was impressed to hear how much he has went through his life.

"I trained Kirby in dream warfare as well, but it resulted with him using his power to create an endless bounty of projections in the form of food." Meta Knight added.

"So where shall we start?" Rosalina said eagerly.

"No, you must rest and gather your strength for tomorrow, you have incepted enough Smashers for one night." The Star Warrior said.

"How did you-" Rosalina asked surprised.

"Our minds are linked, you were defeated by nightmares and seek my help so you can become what you call a Dream Guardian." Meta Knight interrupted.

"Wouldn't I be sleeping every time I incept someone? I'm sure my body is well rested from all those sessions." Rosalina argued.

"Your body does not concern me for your training session, it is your mind that needs rest." Meta Knight said.

"Return to your room and sleep, then meet me in the Wii Fit Studio tomorrow." He commanded, Rosalina couldn't help but ask herself if this is what having a father felt like. She was now fading away by force and disappeared faster than normal.

* * *

-The Hallway

Rosalina opened her eyes and saw she was back in the same hallway that she fell asleep in. She remembered the instructions that Meta Knight gave her and headed back to the path of hallways that led to her room.

She floated towards the door and unlocked it with her lock-picking magic. She entered the room and quickly scanned over the little beds and was relieved that all of her Lumas were safe and sleeping soundly.

She finally returned to her bed and looked at the clock. Only 3 hours, she was amazed at how little time has passed over her little adventure that felt like it went on for years. Having to skip millions of years in ROB's dream and the countless number of eons that she went through walking a several light-year long marathon every time she entered that same nightmare that kept haunting her.

She safely locked away her fragment and positioned herself in her bed for another session of peaceful sleep. Later in her dreams, she was back into the darkness which she dreads.

* * *

-The Next Day

The darkness that infested that hallways of the mansion were no more, the sun has risen to sky and cleansed the world of it for another day. The Smashers have all woken up and rushed down to the kitchen to get their breakfast before Kirby, Yoshi, and Pacman wake up, which their alarm clocks were modified to ring an hour later so they don't end up eating all the food. Now that the Smashers have grabbed their meals, they all sat down in their self proclaimed seats in each table which represented groups of Smashers which they themselves established. Rosalina automatically belonged in the table of the Smash Ladies.

Rosalina sat quietly with the Smash Ladies as she calmly ate her meal, she was overhearing a conversation between Peach, Zelda, Samus, and Lucina, who has shown to be quite naive.

"I don't understand, what do potatoes have to do with anything about our current topic of conversation? And I do believe you mispronounced potato when you said it a second time." Lucina asked in confusion.

"Well you see, some people have a way of pronouncing the word potato either as "Po-Tay-To" or "Po-Tah-To"." Zelda explained.

"But nobody pronounces it that way, what are you talking about?" Lucina protested. Meanwhile, Samus was tapping her fingers in annoyance with looks that show that she was in the verge of losing her patience because Lucina kept dragging on about every expression she didn't understand.

"Well it's kind of a saying used in jokes. For example, let's say an elderly woman was heavily asleep, and someone thought that she was dead, then another person corrects him because she isn't actually dead. Then the other person says "Po-Tay-To, Po-Tah-To" because elderly tend to spontaneously die just as easily as they fall asleep for long periods of time because of their old age." Peach tried to explain. Which left some awkward silence in the table because of how morbid Peach's joke was.

"I still don't know what that has to do with potatoes." Lucina said.

*WHAM!* Samus furiously slammed her steel fist down which startled the entire table.

"CAN WE PLEASE STOP TALKING ABOUT THIS!?" The bounty huntress shouted, she was then breathing heavily in frustration.

"My apologies Dame Samus, please forgive me!" The young swordswoman stood and bowed her head then sat back down.

Rosalina tried to hide her chuckle at the situation. She finished her plate and picked up pieces of food that were scattered on the table by the quake caused by Samus hitting the table.

"Well, it was nice talking with you friends, but I have some training to do." Rosalina stood up with her plate and cup in her hands.

"Break a leg!" Peach said cheerfully.

"Lady Peach! How could you say that?!" Lucina shouted in surprise. As Rosalina walked away from the table, she could hear that Peach, Lucina, and Samus were now in a heated argument.

Rosalina went to the kitchen sink and washed her dish and cup, she then dried them out with a small, towel and returned then to their respective cupboards. She was now floating her way around the hallways to get to the Wii Fit Studio, where Meta Knight was waiting for her.

* * *

-Wii Fit Studio

Rosalina arrived in the white room that had a large mirror for a wall, on the corners of the room was a treadmill and a small, white platform leaning on the wall that was known as a Wii Fit. On the blue mat spread out on the floor was Meta Knight sitting down holding a pair of small, white pillows.

"You came as expected." Meta Knight said as he handed over a pillow to her.

"May I ask why you are carrying those?" Rosalina pointed at the headphones the Star Warrior was holding.

"I will use these to fall asleep quicker, something I learned from... a friend." Meta Knight explained. He lied down and placed the fluffy pillow under his head, and before he could put on the headphones, a completely pale skinned woman walked into her studio and was not pleased with the sight of people going to sleep in her room of exercise.

"Excuse me, but the studio is a place for exercise and training, not for you two to be dozing off on the floor!" The Wii Fit Trainer scolded.

"We are about to enter our training session, a mental exercise similar to meditation." Meta Knight tried to justify.

"Oooh can I try?" The fitness instructor asked curiously.

"Put on the headphones and I will take it from there." The Star Warrior said. Wii Fit Trainer put the headphones on her head and got into a meditating position. He pressed a button on the audio device in which the headphones were connected to. A few seconds later, suddenly the fitness instructor collapsed on the floor and began to snore. Rosalina was a bit surprised by how quickly she fell asleep.

"What did you do?" Rosalina asked.

"I improved on a weaponized audio device by amplifying the sound waves that make you fall asleep in Jigglypuff's singing." He explained as he removed the headphones off the sleeping trainer and returned to a sleeping position.

"Was that really necessary?" She asked again.

"Yes..." Meta Knight simply responded.

Rosalina rolled her eyes.

She lied down with a pillow on her head and waited for Meta Knight to fall asleep. A couple of minutes went by as Meta Knight kept listening to the audio device until he finally fell to unconsciousness.

Rosalina closed her eyes, held her fragment in her fist and wished her way into the dream world.

'Dreamstar, hear me and take me once again to the dreams of the Star Warrior, Meta Knight.'

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **It's been a while since I have updated this story, private school will continue to haunt me with never ending waves of homework and essays.**

 **About the comic relief in this chapter, the story takes a lighter tone in the day in contrast to the darker tone that it takes at night.**

 **I have also been thinking over how the story will continue and how I will use these characters. I have been working in a Bonus Chapter, it does not follow the story in sequence but you can interpret that they take place before A Grim Future.**

 **Also, remember to leave a review, it only takes some kind words (or not so kind) to motivate me to keep on writing!**


	8. CH8: Embracing Your Darker Self

**Changes from this point forward:**

 **-Removed onomatopoeia (The Hidden Flare)**

 **-Extended story**

* * *

-Parts Unknown...

This was it, her final battle.

Rosalina stood surrounded by an empty void, not of darkness, but of pure white. Despite it being brighter, it had the same cold and emptiness of the void of darkness which she dreads.

The only thing that stood out from the emptiness was Rosalina herself and the object that she was looking at.

A puddle of pitch black lied on the floor as if spilled. The black substance was like ink and goo, but the substance felt like the surface of chitin and keratin at touch. The puddle had a horrible stench, as if fear, hate, and suffering were possible of being described as a smell.

The goo began to lift itself up, drip by drip, it slowly molded itself into it's true form.

A minute passed and the substance was building itself up from a pair of black humanoid legs, from the feet up to the calves. Then came the thighs, and continued to form the waist inwards and then outwards. Forming an hourglass shape, the entity revealed that it was forming itself as female, as the legs appeared to compress themselves into a slender, delicate figure.

The entity was now resembling a black sculpture as it's arms and neck were slowly building. The shoulders appeared crudely made until they pressed themselves into the torso and it's surface became perfectly smooth. The body was looking admittedly elegant until it began to create it's more disturbing features.

When the hands formed, the fingers began to extend into unsettlingly long claws. Something began to press outwards from the back, as if something inside was pushing to get out.

Rosalina flinched when she saw the creature's back erupt, spilling it's black blood on the clear, white floor. Looking back at the creature, some strange, slender structures were now coming out of the gaping hole from which it's back exploded. They appeared to be part of it's skeleton because they were connected into the exposed spine from where they grew from. The extensions began to unfold themselves, revealing to be eight legs from that of a spider. They were long and thin but much larger in length compared to the body, each armed with sharp, pointed ends.

Looking into it's bald head, the face was nothing but a smooth, black slate, absolutely devoid of any features. The face began to contort as it ripped itself apart horizontally to create a terrifyingly wide mouth with long, sharp teeth quickly appearing in rows with very inconsistent lengths, then it opened it's eye.

Her eye rather...

A single left eye, it was barely visible because it was as black as the material that she was made of. The eye became more noticeable when a bright glow lit up, it was a neon-cyan pupil that glowed intensely, and it stared directly into Rosalina.

There she was, a horrifying creature of nightmares.

Rosalina knew what she had to do, she no longer feared the dark and horrifying being.

The guardian calmly took out her wand, a tool of powerful magic that she has used reliably in both the dream world and physical world.

And she gently puts it down on ground...

The nightmarish creature snarled in confusion. Rosalina was now slowly walking towards her barehanded with a demeanor of unexpected patience and gentleness. The entity was armed to the teeth with claws, legs, and teeth, ready to sink and impale into the guardian's flesh.

Rosalina kept walking closer to her with no sign of fear. Alarmed by her lack of fear. The nightmare gave a deafening screech, revealing her teeth to Rosalina while spilling black goo on the ground as it drooled uncontrollably down her mouth.

The guardian was now in swinging distance; the nightmare extended one of her lower arachnid legs and did a swift spin as a low sweep to make her trip and fall.

Rosalina calmly floated up slightly just enough to avoid the attack and continued to float towards her target. The entity was now swinging her upper spider legs violently. They slashed and thrusted trying to keep the guardian back. Rosalina calmly dodged most of the attacks, although she now had a few scratches and puncture wounds from those she couldn't avoid.

She quietly gasped in pain when one of the pointed legs impaled her shoulder and another slashed her thigh, but she kept going. She just needed to get closer, she had to do this.

Bypassing the swinging range of the imposing spider legs, the nightmare was now resorting on her claws to keep her back. Rosalina lifted her arms to guard herself from the coming slashes. She grunted in pain as the claws slashed into her forearms, spilling blood on the floor.

"Agh!" The guardian winced when the claws sunk deep into her stomach and slashed their way out from the side of her waist. Leaving her horribly bloodied, she was now holding her stomach and continued to weakly limp even closer to the nightmarish entity.

Rosalina had to fight through the agonizing pain, she was now face-to-face with her target.

"AAGH!" Rosalina cried in pain when the huge pair of disfigured teeth bit down on her shoulder. She wanted to push her away so badly, as everyone had their limits on how much one could withstand. Until she realized one critical detail.

The creature was finally within her reach...

* * *

 **Author's Note-**

 **I always wanted to pace my stories by making them increasingly dark as they keep going further, as if descending further into madness.**

 **Remember to leave a review! I always love to read what people think of my work, much like the comments they leave in my Youtube channel.**


	9. CH9: The Descent - Part 1

**Due to negative reception to the direction the story is going, this chapter will be under maintenance and will be rewritten.**

 **-Changes will include...**

 **Rosalina will not go insane and will react more proper, she might show signs of aggression but will regret it afterwards.**

 **Different characters watching in the spectator room.**

 **Nightmare matter will remain dormant for now...**

* * *

-Meta Knight's Dream

Rosalina flinched from the mysterious vision she had while entering the dream.

She found herself in the black empty void that was Meta Knight's dreams. Said star warrior was found staring back in front of her.

"I am curious to why your dreams are devoid of any setting or projections. Do you have any ambitions that you dream of achieving?" Rosalina asked.

"My hopes and dreams all died they day I became a warrior. I couldn't dwell on my thoughts of what I would do after the war, as my comrades and I always had a shadow of doubt looming behind us, haunting us with the knowledge that we might not survive the next day." Meta Knight replied.

"Do you perhaps dream of Kirby becoming a strong and noble warrior upon maturing?"

"No, it is simply my duty to train the next generation of warriors. Kirby is our last hope to ensure our world is safe."

"Nobody is forcing you to mentor him, it seems you have willingly chosen to take him under your wing. Even when the two of you fight in different sides and ideals, you always seem to offer him something to learn."

Meta Knight's eyes widened, surprised at her vast knowledge of his relationship with Kirby. Even hinting the time he fought him back in the first Halberd, offering him a weapon due to his chivalrous code of honor.

"It seems I am not the only one researching." Meta Knight spoke.

"I am aware you are not biologically related, but I can't help but wonder if you have any sentiment-"

"I am afraid you are overstepping your boundaries, Guardian." Meta Knight interrupted her.

"Forgive me, but I have one last question." Rosalina quickly apologized. Meta Knight slightly tilted his head.

"How exactly did your comrades die in their dreams to the Inceptors? I have died in a dream last night and it instantly woke me up." She asked.

"To be precise, they did not die in their sleep while dreaming. To tell you the truth, the Inceptors tormented them to the point that they become afraid of everything, rendering them dangerous to all of us as they attacked everyone and everything in violent panic. We had to knock them unconscious and euthanize them without chemicals, all we had were our very own weapons to free them from the misery of becoming what we referred to as the Frightened, that is how I saw them die in their sleep." Meta Knight explained with a subtle hint of tragedy. He then snapped out of his thoughts and unsheathed the blade Galaxia.

"Are you ready?" Meta Knight got in a combat stance.

"Yes" Rosalina materialized her wand to appear in her hand, including a projection of a Luma.

"Now, I will break you!" Meta Knight growled before unleashing his wings and dashed at Rosalina at a frightening speed, faster than his dash in the physical world, the guardian was startled and quickly put up her bubbleshield, although this is not a traditional Smash battle, this was the only form of combat she was familiar with because she has not done any fighting outside of Smash.

One Dash Attack kick was enough to break Rosalina's shield, leaving her dazed.

"You limit yourself by sticking to what you know in the world outside. In the Dreamworld, you have to think outside the box!" Meta Knight gave out a tip.

'He's right, I shouldn't be dizzy right now!' Rosalina thought before forcing herself out her nausea.

Rosalina transformed her wand into a sword with a star-shaped tipper and a handle that was bent to that one of a butt of a rifle or Dark Pit's staff. Rosalina held the weapon with one hand and fired a cyan, piercing beam. The shots had the range of a sniper rifle and the fire rate of an automatic machine gun. Meta Knight flew into the air as he evaded the storm of bullets, Rosalina showed no sign of recoil.

Meta Knight turned around in mid-air and materialized a grey and blue circular shield resembling one that belonged to the galaxy's former strongest warrior, Galacta Knight. The shield widened and reflected the barrage of bullets back to the sender.

Rosalina yelped as she ran to avoid the rain of projectiles. Meta Knight was soaring through the air, hot in her trail. She rolled backwards and created her own counter move, predicting Meta Knight's aerial dive bomb. The counter was activated with the sound of clanking steel, just about when she was going to counterattack, Meta Knight quickly activated his own counter within the timeframe of several milliseconds. Rosalina unsurprisingly countered the counter with her own counter, then Meta Knight countered the counter with his counter and counte-

* * *

Several hours passed as there was the constant clanking noice of counters activating, and both fighters swinging their blades at blinding speeds like something out of an anime. The Luma projection yawned in boredom as it watched the epic battle reduce into a counter fest.

"This is getting ridiculous..." Rosalina chuckled while countering.

"Agreed." Meta Knight willingly took the hit, skyrocketing him into the air, if this was a Smash battle, he would have a percentage of 999% a few counters ago. Meta Knight returned to the arena by teleporting in front of his opponent.

"Let us not do that again." He said, somewhat annoyed.

"Agreed." Rosalina said as well and both fighters got into position.

Meta Knight turned to look at his next target, the Luma. He then glided past Rosalina and saw the frightened expression in Luma's 's eyes.

Rosalina's eyes widened and gave a fearful gasp then teleported in front of Luma as a meatshield. She cried in pain when Galaxia stabbed into her. She then met the glowing yellow eyes of her attacker.

"I'm afraid your compassion for that projection will be your downfall. Please learn from that mistake." He said before withdrawing his blade from her stomach, not a single drop of blood was spilled.

"I'm sorry, but that projection is my child!" Rosalina said aggravated.

"That is only a representation of your child, but a projection can literally be anything. They are easily customizable." He said. Rosalina looked back at the projection.

"You promised..." Where Luma once stood was now Lucina's younger self. The girl stood montionless like a statue and stared at her with the same eye of betrayal and fading life. Her left eye was as gouged out as before and half of her face was bleeding from the flesh that was skewered by Rosalina against her will. This was all her fault, she allowed the nightmares to control her for limiting herself to the world outside. Rosalina watched in horror, when she blinked from what felt was several minutes was actually only brief seconds. The dying child was replaced by Luma in only a blink of an eye, but left the guardian haunted.

"I-I-I see your point." Rosalina stuttered, traumatized by the sudden and horrific sight.

"I have confidence that you will learn from this trial, but now I bring you to the final test." Meta Knight star warrior was in deep focus, what started as a striving grunt became a painful one. On his hand was a cloud of black smoke, the same black material that bested Rosalina last night. Her surroundings became white so the dark mass Meta Knight held was more visible. The guardian winced at the smell of the the air that it tainted.

"What is that horrible substance?!" Rosalina asked in disgust.

"This... is Nightmare Matter. It is the accumulation of our own fear and darkest thoughts. Everyone always has a natural balance of this substance within their minds, even those with an evil heart. I must now test your true fortitude by upsetting your balance of nightmare matter within you to trigger your worst fears, if you can overcome this trial, you will prove to me that you are qualified to be the Dream Guardian that you strive to become." Meta Knight explained, feeling somewhat weakened due to his amount of the matter being slightly less than the required quantity.

"I have faith that you will make it through this."

"What if I fail?" Rosalina asked worried.

"Do not be afraid, I will take back my nightmare matter if it happens to overwhelm you." Meta Knight sounded reassuring and concerned. She could tell he was serious about this.

"I am ready."

Meta Knight walked closer and the smoke escaped his hand and floated toward Rosalina. It circled around her waist, making the guardian shiver from it's cold air. Rosalina gasped when she felt the substance go through her chest and into her core.

In her eyes, the world around her became dark, she became uneasy when she noticed the absence of her teacher.

"Meta Knight? Am I doing this right?" Rosalina asked nervously. Her hands trembled and her legs were shaking from the cold, dark void that she was plunged into.

"I... don't see anything..." She said feebly, hoping someone would hear replied, there was nothing but darkness and silence.

"Anyone? Please say something!" Rosalina was increasingly stressed, the nightmare matter is supposed to bring out her worst fears, but she saw nothing.

"What am I afraid of!?" Rosalina cried, she fell to her knees and her hands over her head. She was trembling with the unknown fear and confusion, she slowly began to cry and tears ran down her face.

"I don't understand... I don't see it. I don't see it. I don't see it. I DON'T SEE IT!" Rosalina cried and whimpered as she was losing her mind. She wanted to see or hear anyone or anything to distract her from the darkness which she dreads.

"IdontseeitIdontseeitIdontseeitIdontseeitIdontseeit..." Meta Knight stood as he watched the guardian break down on the floor into tears and murmur unintelligibly. The star warrior was becoming worried.

"You can do it Rosalina, I know you can..." He whispered, knowing that she can't hear him anyway.

"Mother... where are you?" Rosalina wept with a younger voice, she was much smaller in her eyes as the darkness reduced her into a helpless child. She sobbed and cried alone in the darkness, with no voice and light to save her from the dark silence.

"... Ros... at... once..." A muffled voice spoke from the silence, it was heard by both dreamers.

"No... no... not like this..." Meta Knight whispered to himself as the outer voices slowly dragged him out of the Dreamworld.

"Rosalin... at once!" Rosalina opened her tear-filled eyes from the broken silence, releived at the precense of another voice. This interruption was her opportunity to finally escape her nightmare.

* * *

-Wii Fit Studio

"Fox and Rosalina report to Battlefield Omega at once!" The announcer boomed. Rosalina woke up with a terrified gasp and found herself in the blue mat of the studio. She looked around and encountered a noticeably upset Meta Knight.

"What did you do!?" Meta Knight asked with urgency, he sounded both angry and worried.

"There was nothing! I was trapped in empty darkness!" Rosalina bursted, she was breathing heavily with fear in her eyes.

"You weren't supposed to leave! There is an unbalance with the quantity of nightmare matter inside of you, and I need it back!" He barked. He tried to control his breath and calm himself.

"I shouldn't visit someone's dreams too frequently, we have done this twice already and I don't want to know what happens the third time!" Rosalina exclaimed fearfully.

...

"Listen to me and listen well, nightmare matter is foul, it is toxic, and it is corruptive. With enough of the substance, the purest heart can be blackened, and the soundest mind can be driven to insanity." Meta Knight spoke sternly and firmly.

"What are you saying?" Rosalina asked.

"I am pleading you, don't let it corrupt you. Show me that you are strong enough even at your most vulnerable!"

"My most vulnerable?"

"Last call, Fox and Rosalina report to Battlefield Omega at once or you will be disqualified!" The announcer's voice boomed throughout the mansion.

"This is where I depart, I promise we will figure something out!" Rosalina said before dashing out the fitness studio. Meta Knight walked out to the hallway as well, and the female Wii Fit Trainer was left alone sleep-stretching on the floor.

* * *

-Battlefield Omega

"Sorry I am tardy, I had matters to attend to!" Rosalina blurted as she made her way into the platform.

"Hey, it's fine. What's good is that you made it." Fox said casually.

The two smashers were teleported to a large floating platform in the sky up above the clouds. In the background were several ruins floating as well. It was an arena that aimed to capture a certain vibe, warriors of different worlds battle for glory above the clouds. Some being friends, others being enemies, together they are brothers locked in combat and shine even brighter. The guardian and her star-child walked up and met the eyes of the space vulpine looking back with confidence.

"Look Mother! That doggy has robot legs!" Luma said in fascination.

"It's not nice to point at people." Rosalina calmly scolded.

"Let me warn you little guy, these legs kick hard!" Fox said jokingly at the little star creature. Although he usually dislikes being called out for his robotic legs, the Luma's charm made this an exception.

"I don't take threats to my children lightly!" Rosalina glared at him while her overprotective side kicked in, becoming determined to fight.

"Whoa, hey I'm kidding! Lighten up..." Fox raised his hands defensively.

Rosalina did not say another word and immediately dashed towards Fox. The space vulpine was startled from her newly found aggression and shielded the Dash Attack and punished with a Shield Grab. In his grip, Rosalina was pummeled with a series of knee jabs before being lifted over Fox's head and slamming her to the ground and quickly followed up with several shots from his blaster while she was down.

Luma wiggled it's arms in panic as it saw it's mother get tossed around. It's conscience told it to attack the opponent, while it knew that their optimal strategy involved attacking on her command, but she can't give instructions in a situation like this. Luma disobeyed and tackled Fox away from its mother who was trapped in a flurry of rapid kicks.

"Mother! Are you okay? I'm sorry I got off the plan, I just didn't want to see you get hurt anymore!" Luma cried in concern. Rosalina was heavily touched by Luma's independent choice of action, she gave it a slight smile and turned back to face Fox.

Fox noticed the considerable distance away from his opponent, he pulled his sidearm from his waist and rapidly fired a series of blaster shots. Rosalina's eyes widened and jumped in the line of fire to shield her child and screamed in pain as lasers burned into her skin, although non-lethal in Smash, they still stung with incredible pain.

Rosalina activated a Gravitational Field with her magic wand to absorb the incoming fire, the beams of red light were bent and travelled in circles as they orbited around the guardian. She knew she couldn't absorb these projectiles forever, yet she knew that the opponent couldn't fire those projectiles forever as it would become stale and tedious, and he would receive poor reception for his "cheap" performance.

Fox put away his blaster and proceeded to swiftly dash towards Rosalina. She lifted herself up with slight levitation and swung her legs while emitting cosmic energy, her tall frame and slender legs allowed her to outrange whatever assault Fox was planning.

The sun was slowly setting on Battlefield, and the sky took a passionate orange and yellow color.

Fox figured that Rosalina was too on guard to take head-on. Analyzing her previous habits, he locked his eyes on another target. Rosalina's protective nature became an exploitable weakness.

Fox dashed towards the wandering Luma and smashed it into the air with a heavy diagonal kick.

"EEEH!" The star-shaped creature squeaked as it was thrown into the air before poofing out of the arena into a cloud of smoke and a loud pop.

Rosalina's eyes widened and stood paralyzed with what she just witnessed, she was so careless to leave her child in harm's way, and now she's paying for it. She felt a sense of unworthy overwhelm her, how could she be a good mother if she can't protect them? What if this wasn't Smash and the Luma was actually hurt? The thought of that terrified her.

The sun has set and left the Battlefield under a dark, blue sky. Just as she was at her most weakest moment, the darkness that she fears appeared as if to taunt her. Rosalina was not going to let this calamity go unpunished, as a thirst for vengeance began to germinate inside of her.

"Hey uh... are you okay?" Fox asked worried, seeing the guardian before him collapse on her knees and speaking to herself ominously. Rosalina slowly lifted herself up and faced the fox with an unsettling glare, her pupils were noticeably smaller and she had an expression of panic and paranoia.

"Y-y-y-yo-y-you planned on h-h-hurting them didn't you? You think I w-w-wouldn't suspect your intentions!?" Rosalina shivered accusingly.

"Hey, its Smash, no hard feelings right?" Fox shrugged.

Rosalina glared menacingly as she floated off the ground and moved towards Fox slowly like a drifting phantom. The space vulpine was beginning to be creeped out by her change of personality. He backed away from the guardian until he found himself on the edge of the arena. He looked back at her and found her figure legitimately frightening as her height towered over him, her face was shrouded by the black shadows of the penumbral night sky. When he tried to evade Rosalina, he unfortunately found himself trapped by her grab, what was surprising was that she was not using her magic grab but was using her bare hands with a powerful grip. Fox began to gasp desperately for air when he realised she was grabbing him by the throat, strangulating him with murderous intent.

"No hard feelings!? Do you treat me as if I have no feelings!? I have feelings... I can feel... and I feel pain and suffering..." Rosalina wept with anger and fear. The more she stared into Fox's face, the more he revealed his true form. His face was pitch black that not even the shining light of the moon could reveal it, all that was visible from his distorted face was a glowing cyan iris.

 **"Why do you continue to help these creatures? Do you think you are sparing them from the horrors you have endured?"** The contorted fox whispered calmly despite his position in a cold, deep voice.

"You are not going to hurt them! I will ensure you never hurt anyone anymore!" Rosalina snapped at the monstrous creature.

The spectators gasped in shock as they saw the illegal chokehold. Although the physics of the Smash universe protect their habitants from lacerations, burns, blunt force trauma, and other significant injuries. However, chokeholds are not protected because of the simplicity of cutting a being from their vital air supply just by applying pressure to their respiratory passage ways. Despite the move's name of Ganondorf's Flame Choke, Master Hand had went through a long conversation with the King of Evil about their strict no-chokehold policy. Master Hand also has provided the space arenas like Final Destination and Lylat Cruise an invisible bubble of oxygen, upon noticing that every organic fighter with the exception of Olimar, has a respiratory system that relies on oxygen to survive.

-Spectator Room

A few smashers watched in horror as they sat in the spectator room, the sight of Rosalina strangling Fox was on a large, projected screen. Kirby, not knowing any better, would be convinced that he was watching a horror flick.

"What the hell is she doing!? I need to get in there right now!" Samus said with a tone of surprise and anger.

"But the doors to the battle room can't be opened until the match is over! What are we going to do?" Luigi asked her.

"I'll blast the damn things open if I have to!" The bounty huntress ran out of the room, Luigi followed her on her way to the doors.

"Samus, wait!" Luigi exasperated trying to keep up with the armored amazon.

"I've lost enough friends in my life and I am not letting anyone else die on my watch!" Samus declared as she sprinted across the hall. Upon having sights on the door to the battle room, she aimed her Arm Cannon and fired a Super Missile at the steel was a loud blast and the door was sent flying, bent and burned by the explosion. Samus desperately typed in the code of coordinates required for the teleporter to transport her to Battlefield Omega.

*STAGE RESTRICTED: MATCH IN PROGRESS!* The computer screen displayed.

"DAMN IT!" Samus punched a wall in frustration, leaving a hole and some cracks.

\- Battlefield Omega

The night sky loomed above the arena, the air was cold and it gave a ghostly howl. Rosalina held Fox by the throat and pulled his face close to hers. Fox struggled for his life as he was lifted a few feet off the ground by the towering woman who refused to release the chokehold.

"Please die... just... DIE!" Rosalina sobbed desperately, she can never handle the act of taking life, but the creature that she saw with her own eyes cannot be allowed to live any longer. She violently shaked him as she held him by the throat.

"If you kill me... they'll come for you... and they will never forgive you..." Fox wheezed on his remaining breaths. Rosalina growled and tightened her grip into his neck. Fox felt the air getting colder and the sky becoming darker as he was in the verge of passing out from suffocation.

The night in Battlefield slowly faded away as dawn rose over, the sun was a small glowing light that purged the realm clean of it's shadows.

"MOTHER, STOP IT!" A child's voice shouted. Rosalina suddenly snapped out of her rage and found herself confused to what was happening with little memory to what was happening. She gasped in shock and released and dropped Fox from her grasp. The vulpine was coughing for air on his knees as the wind flowed through his lungs.

"Mother... I'm scared..." The same Luma respawned and trembled in fear.

"My child... oh, I'm so glad you are safe!" Rosalina said in relief, approaching the Luma for an embrace of comfort. Luma flinched and held it's tiny arms over it's eyes, shivering.

"It's alright little one, what are you afraid of?" Rosalina wiped her tears. The closer she got, the more frightened the Luma became.

"You..."

Rosalina froze, overflowed with guilt and horror. She turned to look at Fox who's face was no longer dark and distorted. He was breathing unsteadily and stared back at her from the other side of the stage, he then deliberately leapt off the stage and into the clouds below. A bright explosion appeared confirming his self-destruction.

Fox did not respawn, he forfeited the match and left Rosalina alone with a terrified Luma. The wind moaned in melancholy for those who remained stood silent.

'I shouldn't stay here, I need to leave...' She thought, considering Fox's words about the smashers coming for her if she were to kill him. Attempting murder is a sin as bad as a successful murder as both share the same intentions but have clearly different results.

Rosalina used her teleporting magic to disappear out of the stage, feeling guilty of leaving Luma behind, but she had no choice ever since her child became afraid of her own adoptive mother.

"Freeze!" Samus suddenly appeared from a flash of light after finally being teleported into the stage, pointing her Arm Cannon at anything she could threaten and maintain control of in the situation. Luma squealed in surprise right after it thought it was over.

"Alright kid! Where is your mom?!" Samus interrogated.

"I don't know, she looked sad before she teleported somewhere!" Luma said intimidated, Samus and Rosalina shared similar heights of around 6-7 feet tall.

"Where is Fox?"

"He was on the floor coughing before he got up and jumped off a cliff." Luma became less frightened, finding comfort under the shadow of the bounty huntress, who's armor and height produced a feeling of power and might that Samus rightfully represents.

Samus sighed in relief, she lowered to one knee and gently gave her hand to Luma.

"Come with me kid, we're getting out of here."

* * *

 **Author's Note-**

 **I highly apologize if the chapter was too disturbing for some readers, after being away for so long, I have forgotten the atmosphere of the story for focusing too much on the concept of Rosalina's personal demons.**

 **Now might be a good time to consider getting Beta Readers.**

 **Be sure to write a review! It motivates me to continue writing!**


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